U  D 

333 

08  IE  TRAINING 


FOR  WAR- 


Lt,  CoL  S.  W.  BROOlM^rj 
Infantry,  U.  S.  A. 


Published  by  the 

:ONAL  RIFLE  ASSOCIATION 
OF  AMERICA 

FOR  THE 

3IQNAL  BOARB  FOR  THE 

OF  RIFLE  PRACTICE 


ry 


SECOND  EDITION 
Revised  and  Enlarged 


WASHINGTON 
GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFF1CB 

1919 


GIFT   OF 


RIFLE  TRAINING 
FOR  WAR 


By 

Lt.  Col.  S.  W.  BROOKHART 
Infantry,  U.  S.  A. 


Published  by  the 

NATIONAL  RIFLE  ASSOCIATION 
OF  AMERICA 

FOR  THE 

NATIONAL  BOARD  FOR  THE  PROMOTION 
OF  RIFLE  PRACTICE 


SECOND  fiDHION 
Revised  and  Enlarged 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 
1919 


WASHINGTON,  IOWA,  June  9,  1919. 
This  is  the  second  edition  of  "  Rifle  Training  in 
War."  The  first  was  written  prior  to  the  Small  Arms 
Firing  School  at  Camp  Perry,  Ohio.  In  that  school 
and  later  in  the  Infantry  School  of  Arms  at  Camp 
Benning,  Ga.,  I  received  many  valuable  suggestions 
from  Col.  Morton  C.  Mumma  and  all  of  the  excellent 
corps  of  instructors.  Those  entitled  to  special  mention 
and  credit  for  this  edition  are  Capt.  Don  A.  Preussner, 
Capt.  James  M.  H.  Wallace,  Capt.  Arthur  D.  Roth- 
rock,  and  Lieut.  John  A.  Dietz. 

SMITH  W.  BKOOKHART, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Infantry,  United  States  Army. 

(3) 


415537 


FOREWORD. 


THE  THEORY  OF  INDIVIDUAL  FIRE. 

armistice  is  signed  and  peace  is  coming,  but 
rifle  training  in  peace  is  not  different  from  rifle 
training  in  war.  The  one  is  reasonable  preparation, 
the  other  immediate  necessity.  Both  have  the  same 
object  when  we  are  considering  military  training. 
This  training  may  be  divided  into  two  parts:  First, 
the  training  of  the  individual ;  second,  the  training  of 
the  leaders  and  their  units  in  collective  fire. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  publication  to  treat  only 
of  individual  training,  and  it  will  begin  with  a  dis- 
cussion of  its  theory  and  relative  importance.  Before 
the  war  there  grew  up  a  theory,  based  largely  upon 
German  precept  if  not  propaganda,  to  the  effect  that 
individual  rifle  training  was  unimportant  if  not  a 
military  detriment.  It  was  variously  stated  that 
"Expert  riflemen  will  not  make  as  many  hits  in  war 
as  will  average  shots  " ;  that  "  Individual  instruction 
should  not  be  given  at  ranges  greater  than  500  yards  "  ; 
that  "  Such  training  as  the  soldier  receives  on  the 
target  range  plays  but  a  minor  part " ;  that  "  At  900 
yards  poor  marksmen  will  obtain  10  times  as 
many '  hits  as  good  marksmen  " ;  that  "  When  the 
range  is  unknown  the  superior  skill  of  the  excellent 
marksman  works  to  his  positive  disadvantage  " ;  and 
that,  firing  in  modern  battle,  is  "often  conducted  at 
ranges  of  2,000  yards  or  even  more." 
(5) 


These  conciasions  \vcre  demonstrated  by  various 
firing  problems.  One  of  the  favorites  was  to  organize 
four  companies  of  48  men  each.  The  first  was  experts, 
the  second  average  shots,  the  third  poor  shots,  and  the 
fourth  recruits.  These  companies  in  turn  were  halted 
1,200  yards  from  a  line  of  targets  and  were  required 
to  set  their  sights  with  a  12  per  cent  error  or  approxi- 
mately 150  yards  wrong.  Each  then  fired  10  shots  per 
man  and  it  was  found  the  experts  got  no  hits.  They 
missed  the  targets  about  150  yards  just  as  their  sights 
were  set.  The  average  shots  scattered  their  fire  a 
little  and  got  a  few  hits.  The  poor  shots  scattered 
their  fire  more  and  got  more  hits.  The  recruits  scat- 
tered their  fire  most  and  got  most  hits.  The  experts 
were  then  taken  on  an  estimating-distance  test  and 
their  average  error  was  about  12  per  cent.  They  were 
then  informed  that  the  distance  given  them  was  ex- 
actly in  accordance  with  their  own  error  and  the 
result  of  their  firing  was  the  same  as  in  battle.  The 
result  proved  that  poor  marksmen  would  get  10  times 
as  many  hits  as  good  marksmen  at  long  ranges  and 
that  superior  skill  was  a  disadvantage  when  the  dis- 
tances were  unknown.  Hence,  individual  instruction 
should  not  be  given  at  greater  ranges  than  500  yards 
and  target-range  training  plays  but  a  minor  part. 

If  the  problem  were  exactly  like  a  battle  and  if 
battles  must  be  fought  exactly  like  the  problem,  then 
the  conclusions  would  be  correct,  but  neither  side  ever 
did  or  ever  will  act  like  the  problem.  The  enemy  will 
not  march  up  and  halt  in  a  line  at  1,200  yards  to  be 
smashed  by  a  scatteration  of  poor  rifle  shots.  If  he 
did  take  such  a  position,  the  intelligent  thing  to  do 
would  be  to  use  machine-gun  fire.  If  expert  riflemen 
must  be  used  they  would  not  waste  10  rounds  of 


ammunition  in  obedience  to  an  erroneous  estimate  of 
distance.  A  trial  shot  or  a  trial  volley  would  set  them 
right.  The  distance  would  not  remain  unknown  if 
they  were  experts.  If  they  were  poor  shots  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  distance  would  matter  little.  They 
get  about  the  same  number  of  hits,  right  or  wrong. 
In  either  case  they  do  not  get  enough  to  be  decisive, 
and  the  shorter  the  distance  the  more  unreliable  they 
become.  There  are  other  conditions  of  modern  war- 
fare that  entirely  destroy  the  arguments  against  the 
individual  training  on  the  target  range.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  machine  gun  has  certainly  taken  over 
most  of  the  long-range  collective  fire  that  was  formerly 
assigned  to  the  rifle.  This  is  true  even  in  open  war- 
fare. On  the  other  hand,  the  best  defense  or  offense 
against  the  machine  gun  is  in  the  training  of  more  and 
better  snipers. 

In  trench  warfare  the  advance  by  platoon  rushes 
protected  by  rifle  fire  is  impossible.  Most  of  the 
advancing  is  done  underground  and  in  the  night.  The 
collective  fire  of  the  preliminary  battle  advances  is 
entirely  discarded.  When  the  time  comes  to  go  over 
the  top,  the  whole  line  goes  over  together,  either  under 
the  protection  of  a  barrage  or  as  a  surprise  without 
artillery  preparation.  The  range  is  usually  very  short, 
nearly  always  under  400  yards.  After  the  melee  starts 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  fire  distribution,  fire  control, 
or  even  fire  discipline.  In  the  decisive  stages  of  the 
fight  commands  are  impossible  and  communications 
cease.  There  is  nothing  left  to  rely  on  except  the  indi- 
vidual training  of  the  man.  If  that  has  been  good, 
the  fire  control  will  be  good,  because  each  man  will 
save  his  fire  until  he  can  hit  something.  When  the 


8 

enemy  appears  he  needs  no  command  to  deliver  his 
fire  both  rapidly  and  accurately.  He  will  look  through 
the  sights,  and  that  means  hits  and  superiority  of  fire. 
Misses  never  give  superiority,  however  great  the  vol- 
ume. A  great  volume  of  misses  encourages  the  enemy. 
At  these  short  ranges  if  the  men  are  properly  trained 
they  will  accurately  know  every  distance.  Even  if  the 
distances  must  be  estimated  the  errors  will  not  cause 
trained  riflemen  to  miss.  A  12  per  cent  error  in  dis- 
tance at  300  yards  only  raises  or  lowers  the  hit  3 
inches  in  the  vertical  plane,  and  that  would  not  miss  a 
head.  Notwithstanding  these  facts  the  whole  history 
of  warfare  shows  that  the  ordinary  army  does  less 
execution  at  the  short  ranges  than  at  the  longer 
ranges.  There  are  two  reasons :  the  excitement  of 
battle  and  insufficient  individual  training.  If  the 
training  is  thorough  a  large  percentage  of  the  men 
will  go  back  to  it  in  spite  of  the  excitement  of  battle. 
If  the  training  is  inadequate,  the  excitement  sends  the 
shots  high  and  the  ammunition  is  wasted. 

In  a  quiet  sector  it  has  been  said  that  a  rifle  shot 
would  not  be  heard  in  many  days.  If  such  is  the  fact 
the  sector  was  not  properly  organized  with  trained 
snipers.  In  any  quiet  sector  the  snipers  ought  to  dom- 
inate the  ordinary  situation,  and  that  in  spite  of 
machine-gun  fire.  Such  a  result  can  not  be  obtained 
without  the  best  trained  individual  riflemen.  It  can 
surely  be  obtained  with  them. 

If  the  modern  battle  ranges  are  so  short,  that  fact 
may  be  urged  as  a  reason  why  target  training  should 
not  be  done  at  a  greater  distance  than  500  yards. 
Such  a  reason  will  appeal  only  to  the  novice.  The 
good  rifleman  learned  his  500-yard  holding  at  1,000 


9 

yards.  He  learned  more  in  firing  one  shot  at  the 
longer  range  than  in  firing  five  at  the  shorter.  If  he 
is  trained  in  the  harder  problem  he  masters  the  other 
with  ease  and  he  saves  both  time  and  ammunition. 
The  distance  should  be  increased  as  rapidly  as  he  can 
hit  and  change  his  hits  to  correspond  to  his  sight 
changes.  Greater  improvement  at  the  shorter  ranges 
is  sure  to  follow  this  kind  of  training.  Besides,  every 
sniper  should  be  trained  to  hit  at  1,000  yards  and  even 
at  greater  distances  with  telescopic  sights. 

It  is  said  that  individual  training  will  not  insure 
proper  fire  distribution.  If  the  warfare  were  open  and 
there  were  no  machine  guns,  then  the  spraying  of  the 
landscape  would  of  necessity  be  done  with  the  rifles. 
The  question  of  fire  distribution  would  then  be  of 
great  importance.  But  since  we  have  machine  guns 
the  commander  would  not  be  justified  in  exposing  a 
long  line  of  riflemen  and  shooting  away  their  ammuni- 
tion when  one  or  two  machine  guns  would  do  the  job 
better.  The  machine  gun  has  very  greatly  reduced 
the  necessity  for  collective  rifle  fire  and  for  its  sys- 
tematic distribution  even  in  open  warfare.  However 
important  the  training  for  these  purposes  might  have 
been  in  the  past,  it  dwindles  under  modern  conditions. 
We  have  reached  the  time  when  an  exhaustive  study 
should  be  given  of  the  proper  coordination  and  divi- 
sion of  fire  as  between  machine  guns,  automatic  rifles, 
and  rifles.  The  occasions  and  conditions  under  which 
each  should  be  used  should  be  carefully  analyzed  and 
defined  and  the  training  modified  accordingly.  If 
the  machine  gun  is  taking  the  place  of  our  old  collec- 
tive fire  problems  at  long  distances,  it  is  time  to  drop 
so  many  of  them  and  save  that  much  of  our  troubles. 


10 

When  we  come  to  the  shorter  distances  and  the  more 
decisive  stages  of  battle,  individual  training  will  cause 
each  man  to  fire  on  the  enemy  he  is  approaching,  and 
that  insures  the  best  posible  distribution  along  the 
whole  line.  Besides,  we  have  already  seen  there  is 
nothing  else  to  rely  upon  at  this  stage. 

From  the  foregoing  discussion  it  is  deduced  that 
individual  training  in  rifle  fire  is  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance in  war.  The  discipline  that  is  so  necessary 
for  proper  teamwork  in  battle  is  best  attained  by 
training  in  the  work  itself.  The  morale  that  is  so 
necessary  to  sustain  the  shock  of  battle  is  best  devel- 
oped by  the  confidence  each  man  has  in  his  ability  to 
do  execution  with  his  weapons. 

If  this  training  were  properly  given  it  would  be 
divided  into  three  stages.  First,  the  ordinary  target 
range  practice  at  known  distances  in  which  every  aid 
to  speed  and  accuracy  should  be  employed.  It  is  possi- 
ble to  give  this  part  of  the  training  quite  efficiently 
in  a  16-week  period  and  without  neglect  of  other  train- 
ing, but  not  upon  the  ammunition  allowance  of  the 
firing  manual.  A  plan  is  outlined  in  part  13  hereof 
which  would  train  2,000  instructors  in  24  half  days 
of  firing  and  then  each  man  in  the  division  for  12  half 
days  under  these  instructors.  This  would  require 
about  800  rounds  of  ammunition  per  man,  and  every 
shot  would  be  fired  under  the  direction  of  a  trained 
instructor.  This  is  a  minimum.  Every  man  who  is 
sent  into  a  modern  battle  is  certainly  entitled  to  this 
amount  of  preparation.  It  is  less  training  than  he 
would  get  in  learning  to  shoe  a  horse  or  drive  an 
automobile.  It  is  less  than  he  will  get  in  many  minor 
parts  of  his  military,  instruction.  It  can  be  done  with 


11 

a  reasonable  number  of  targets,  but  it  has  not  been 
done  heretofore.  This  training  will  not  make  a  war 
shot  out  of  any  man,  but  it  will  give  him  the  best 
basis  for  it.  If  possible  he  should  have  a  second  period 
of  training  on  indistinct  and  moving  targets  at  un- 
known distances,  but  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  attempt 
this  before  a  man  has  learned  the  rifle  and  the  hold 
in  a  reliable  manner.  Also,  no  satisfactory  range  for 
training  large  numbers  of  men  in  this  kind  of  fire 
has  yet  been  developed.  Small  sniper  ranges  have 
been  operated  with  reasonable  success,  but  the  proper 
solution  on  a  large  scale  is  yet  to  come.  This  would 
end  individual  training  and  the  third  stage  is  collec- 
tive fire.  The  leaders  only  can  be  trained  in  collective 
fire.  The  large  terrain  and  the  time  required  make 
it  impossible  to  train  the  whole  personnel.  If  the 
leaders  become  casualties  the  whole  training  is  lost. 
It  is,  therefore,  obvious  that  the  principal  reliance 
can  not  be  put  upon  training  in  collective  fire.  If  the 
individual  is  well  trained  the  machine  will  always  go ; 
if  he  is  not,  it  is  always  in  danger  of  collapse. 


AN   OUTLINE  FOR  INDIVIDUAL   TRAINING. 

rpHE  course  of  instruction  in  marksmanship  is  com- 
prised of  20  subjects,  which  will  be  referred  to 
by  number,  as  follows: 

1.  Nomenclature,  dismounting  and  assembling 

rifle. 

2.  Care  and  cleaning  rifle. 

3.  Position  drills. 

4.  Manipulation  drills. 


12 

5.  Sight  alignment. 

6.  Trigger  squeeze. 

7.  Ten  commandments. 

8.  Aiming  drills. 

9.  Rapid  loading. 

10.  Rapid-fire  aiming  drills. 

11.  Sight  setting. 

12.  Gallery  practice. 

13.  Range  operation. 

14.  Records. 

15.  Exterior  ballistics. 

16.  Safety  cautions. 

17.  Range  firing. 

18.  Functioning  and  repairs. 

19.  Interest  and  enthusiasm. 

20.  Daily  critique  and  review. 
Each  student  should  be  provided  with — 

Rifle,   cleaning   rods,   oil,   and  patches. 
Automatic  pistol. 
Notebook. 

Score  book  and  pencils. 
Grease. 

Cartridge  belt  and  20  dummy  cartridges. 
Reference  books  for  use  of  students — 
Small-arms  firing  manual. 
Hand    Book    of    the    Rifle.     War    Department 

publication  (Doc.  No.  698). 
Ordnance  publications.     (Nos.  1923,  1917,  1966, 

1965,  1793,  and  1992.) 
Blanks  used  by  this  school. 


13 

1.    NOMENCLATURE,    DISMOUNTING    AND    ASSEMBLING 
BIFLE. 

(A)  Have  group  dismount  and  assemble  bolt  mech- 
anism in  concert. 

(a)  Display  parts  to  group  and  ask  individual 
members  for  correct  names. 

(&)  Have  individual  students  describe  function  of 
each  part. 

(B)  Have  group  dismount  and  assemble  magazine 
mechanism. 

(a)  Ask  individuals  for  correct  names. 
(&)  Ask  individuals  for  description  of  functions  of 
each  part. 

(C)  Instructor    will    dismount    and    assemble    the 
whole  rifle  in  presence  of  his  group. 

(a)  Will  ask  individuals  correct  name  of  each  part. 
(&)  Will  ask  individuals  for  description  of  the  func- 
tion of  each  part. 

(D)  Instructor  will  designate  three  vital  parts  of 
the  rifle,  as  follows: 

1.  Lands  at  the  muzzle : 
(a)  Minimum  gauge,  0.2999. 
(&)  Worn-out  gauge,  0.304. 

(c)  Difference,  0.0041. 

(d)  Maximum  amount  of  wear  on  each  individual 
land  $,  or  0.00205. 

(e)  Maximum  gauge,  0.302 — subtracted  from  worn- 
out  gauge  leaves,  0.002. 

(f)  0.001  minimum  amount  of  wear  on  each  indi- 
vidual land  bring  j. 

(g)  The    average    diameter   of    a    human    hair   is 
0.0015,  which  is  about  the  average  amount  of  wear 
on  the  rifle  land  until  it  is  worn  out.     Gauge  figures 
are  for  1917  rifle,  but  they  illustrate  for  any  rifle. 


14 

The  above  figures  are  fractions  of  an  inch. 

2.  Guard  screws : 

(a)  Must  always  be  tight. 

(&)   If  rifle  becomes  erratic  examine  guard  screws 
first. 

(c)  Explain  delicacy  in  vibration  of  barrel. 

(d)  Explain  delicacy  in  bending  barrel. 

(e)  Explain  bearing  of  barrel  on  guard  screws. 

3.  The  trigger: 
(a)  The  command. 

(&)  The  heel,  or  final  squeeze  bearing. 

(c)  No  drags,  creeps,  or  stops  in  final  squeeze. 

(d)  Drags,  creeps,  and  stops  corrected  by  shorten- 
ing and  smoothing  heel  bearing. 

(e)  After  heel  is  shortened  it  may  be  necessary  to 
shorten  and  smooth  command  bearing  on  side  toward 
heel. 

(f)  The  two  bearings  must  be  kept  separate  and 
distinct. 

(<7)   Sear  nose  and  sear  must  never  be  filed  to  cor- 
rect for  drags,  creeps,  and  stops  in  the  final  squeeze. 
(h)  Test  I  and  II,  Small  Arms  Firing  Manual. 
(E)   Comparison  of  service  rifles. 

2.    CARE    AND    CLEANING    OF    BIFLE. 

(A)  Cleaning  rack. 

(B)  Cleaning  patches. 

(C)  Oil. 

(D)  Grease  used  on  bullets  in  firing  makes  cleaning 
easy. 

(E)  Pull-through  should  not  be  used  generally;  it 
has  a  tendency  to  injure  the  lands  at  the  muzzle. 


15 

(F)  Use  of  emery  dust  prohibited. 

(G)  All  muzzle  cleaning  prohibited. 
(H)   Fouling,  powder  or  metal. 

(I)  Powder  fouling  removed  by  ordinary  soda  solu- 
tion. 

(J)  Metal  fouling  prevented  by  use  of  greased  bul- 
lets. It  may  not  be  advisable  to  use  them  in  battle 
because  of  smoke,  but  they  should  be  used  during  the 
training  period  for  the  preservation  of  the  rifle. 

(K)  Ammonia  solution  for  metal  fouling  has  done 
many  times  more  damage  than  good,  because  it  has 
not  been  properly  used.  If  used  it  must  be  with  the 
greatest  care  and  exactly  as  prescribed  in  the  de- 
scriptive book. 

(L)  After  all  cleaning,  the  bore  must  be  oiled. 

(M)  For  a  short  time  the  best  oil  is  sperm  mixed 
with  20  per  cent  cosmoline. 

(N)   For  a  long  period,  cosmoline. 

(O)  If  rifles  are  inspected  clean  and  shining,  they 
must  be  oiled  immediately  and  inspected  a  second  time 
after  oiling. 

(P)  Orders  will  not  get  rifles  oiled  after  shining 
inspection ;  there  must  be  another  inspection  to  see 
that  the  orders  are  obeyed. 

3,    POSITION    DRILLS. 

(A)  Regular   positions   of  the   firing   manual   and 
trench : 
(a)   Prone. 
(&)   Sitting. 

(c)  Kneeling. 

(d)  Standing. 

(e)  Standing  trench. 


16 

(B)  Sling  adjustments: 

(a)  Prone  position,  without  sandbag. 
(&)   Sitting  position. 

(c)  Kneeling  position. 

(d)  Standing  position. 

(e)  In  standing  and  kneeling  position  arm  may  be 
wrapped    in   sling   without    going   through   the   loop, 
known  as  the  grapevine  sling. 

(C)  Sandbag  adjustments: 

(a)  Prone,  with  sling,  hand  on  bag,  rifle  on  hand. 

(b)  Prone,    without    sling,    bag    under    explosion; 
easiest  position  and  almost  as  good. 

(c)  Standing  trench,  without  sling,  bag  under  ex- 
plosion. 

(d)  Best  not  to  use  sling  in  standing  trench  posi- 
tion. 

(e)  Test  VIII,  Small  Arms  Firing  Manual. 

4.    MANIPULATION    DRILLS. 

(A)  Manipulate  bolt  with  trigger  tied  back. 

(B)  Simulate  aiming  by   taking  the  aiming  posi- 
tion ;  but  this  is  not  an  aiming  drill. 

(C)  Begin    manipulation  in   standing  position   be- 
cause it  is  easiest. 

(a)  Then  kneeling. 

(b)  Then  sitting. 

(c)  Then  prone,  and  in  the  sling. 

(D)  Final   test,  20   times  in   15  seconds  in  prone 
position,  in  sling,  with  trigger  tied  back. 

5.    SIGHT   ALIGNMENT. 

(A)  Relative  position  of  sights  and  bull's-eye. 
(a)   Freeze  face  to  stock  in  such  position  that  top 
of  front  sight  appears  in  center  of  peep. 


17 


(B)  Focus  of  the  eyes. 

(a)  Will  only  focus  on  one  point  at  same  time. 

(&)  Sight  alignment  checked  by  changing  focus  of 
eye  from  center  of  peep  to  top  of  front  sight,  then  to 
bull's-eye.  It  may  be  necessary  to  repeat  this  check 
several  times. 

(c)  Focus  on  peep  held  on  sky  line  discloses — 

(1)  Bright  center  in  peep. 

(2)  Dark  center  in  bright  center. 

(3)  Bright  point  in  dark  center. 

(d)  Bright  point  is  optical  center  of  peep,  but  it 
is  hard  to  find,  and  is  only  found  when  eye  is  right 
distance  from  the  peep,  and  variation  of  one-half  inch 
too  close  or  too  far  from  the  peep  loses  it.    The  first 
big  bright  center  noticed  in  a  peep  can  be  used  in 
practically  all  aiming  and  centering  whether  on  the 
sky  line  or  not.    The  others  are  not  seen  in  1903  rifle, 
because  sight  is  too  far  from  eye. 

(C)  Sighting  devices. 

(a)  Belgian  aiming  device. 
(&)   Sighting  bar. 

(c)  Ordnance  aiming  device. 

(d)  Only  value  of  these  devices  is  to  assist  in  learn- 
ing correct  sight  alignment.     As  soon  as  understood 
they  have  no  further  use. 

(D)  Sighting  triangles. 

(a)  Tests  at  100  yards,  triangle  covered  by  quarter 
dollar. 

(&)   Sight  triangle  in  bright  light 

(c)  Shade  target  and  note  effect  of  dark  light. 

(d)  Shade  sights,  leave  target  bright ;  note  effect. 

(e)  Shade  both  sights  and  target;  note  effect. 
130339° — 19 2 


18 

(/)  After  men  become  expert  at  sighting  triangles, 
have  groups  of  three  or  more  sight  triangles  without 
moving  rifle  or  target.  Note  different  placing  of  tri- 
angles by  different  men,  hence  difference  in  eyes. 

(g)  Have  same  done  in  different  light,  and  note 
difference  in  effect  of  light  on  different  eyes. 

(E)  Test  VI,  Small  Arms  Firing  Manual. 

6.    TKIGGEE  SQUEEZE. 

(A)  Command  hold. 

(B)  Final  squeeze. 

(C)  Flinching: 

(a)  Caused  by  fear  of  explosion. 

(&)  Or  improper  placing  of  mental  attention. 

(c)  Cured  by  training  the  mind  to  stay  where  it 
belongs. 

(d)  Mind  should  not  think  of  explosion. 

(e)  Mind  should  think  of  sight  alignment  and  final 
squeeze. 

(f)  Mixing  dummies  with  loads  will  not  cure  flinch- 
ing, and  is  so  dangerous  it  should  be  prohibited. 

7.    TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 

1.  Position  45°. 

2.  Adjust  sling  high. 

3.  Hard  on  shoulder. 

4.  Freeze  face  to  stock. 

5.  Hold  breath. 

6.  Take  command  trigger. 

7.  Align  sights. 

8.  Last  focus  on  bull. 

9.  Final  squeeze. 
10.  Call  shot. 


19 

(A)  The  commandments   are  based  on  the  prone 
position  because  it  is  the  best  position  in  which  to 
learn  accurate  shooting. 

(a)  The  alignment  of  the  body  45°  from  the  align- 
ment of  the  rifle  is  the  best  prone  position  for  accu- 
rate shooting,  and  should,  therefore,  be  used  during 
the  training  period,  although  it  may  not  often  be  possi- 
ble in  battle.  The  best  positions  bring  the  best  results, 
and  when  good  shooting  is  once  learned  it  will  follow 
in  any  position  that  may  be  forced  by  service  condi- 
tions. 

(B)  Sling  should  be  adjusted  high  above  the  muscle 
of  the  upper  arm  and  held  with  the  keeper. 

(a)  If  permitted  to  slip  down  near  the  elbow  three- 
fourths  of  its  value  is  lost. 

( & )  The  sling  should  be  used  when  possible,  because 
it  gives  the  best  results. 

(c)  After  good  holding,  and  with  the  sling,  all  hold- 
ing without  it  will  be  improved. 

(d)  Many  times  in  battle  the  sling  can  not  be  used, 
but  its  lessons  are  valuable  anyhow. 

(C)  If  the   sling  is  adjusted  high,   and  the  right 
length,  the  butt  of  the  stock  will  come  hard  against 
the  shoulder. 

(D)  There  can  be  no  good  holding  unless  the  face 
is  frozen  hard  against  the  stock,  and  also  against  the 
thumb  when  it  goes  around  the  stock. 

(a)  This  freezing  of  the  face  should  be  in  such  posi- 
tion as  to  bring  the  eye  in  proper  alignment  with  the 
sights,  as  already  noted. 

(E)  The  breath  must  be  held: 
(a)  At  the  time  of  alignment. 
(&)  During  final  trigger  squeeze. 


20 

(c)  The  best  way  is  to  catch  up  breathing,  take  a 
long  breath,  exhale  part  until  feeling  is  easy,  and  then 
hold  as  above  indicated. 

(d)  If  breath  can  not  be  held  long  enough  for  this 
at  first  trial,  above  process  should  be  repeated. 

(c)  Attempt  should  always  be  made  to  complete  the 
aim  and  trigger  squeeze  on  the  first  holding  of  the 
breath. 

(F)  After  the  trigger  is  squeezed  back  a  certain 
distance  there  is  a  distinct  stop.     To  take  command 
of  trigger  means  to  squeeze  it  back  to  'this  stop  and 
hold  it  there.     This  should  be  done  before  alignment 
of  sights  and  final  squeeze. 

( G )  Correct  sight  alignment  is : 

(a)  Top  of  front  sight  in  center  of  peep. 

( b )  Top  of  front  sight  at  6  o'clock  under  bull's-eye, 
or  on  other  aiming  point. 

(H)  The  eye  having  two  sights  and  an  aiming  point, 
or  bull's-eye,  to  observe,  must  focus  at  least  three  dif- 
ferent times,  and  the  last  focus  before  the  final  squeeze 
is  on  the  bull's-eye  or  aiming  point. 

(I)  After  the  last  focus  on  the  bull's-eye  or  aiming 
point  has  shown  the  sights  in  proper  alignment  with 
it,  everything  is  ready  for  the  final  squeeze  of  the 
trigger,  which  must  be  prompt  and  steady,  without 
thinking  of  the  explosion. 

( J)  After  the  final  squeeze  the  next  business  of  the 
mind  is  to  call  the  shot,  which  is  done  by  observing 
the  position  of  the  front  sight  at  the  time  of  final 
squeeze. 

(a)  If  top  of  front  sight  is  higher  than  it  should  be 
at  aiming  point,  shot  is  called  high. 


/"h\     If    4-™ 


21 


( & )  If  top  of  front  sight  is  to  right  of  aiming  point 
at  time  of  final  squeeze,  shot  is  called  to  the  right. 

(c)  The  same  for  left. 

(d)  The  same  for  low. 

8.  AIMING   DEILLS. 

(A)  The  ten  commandments  indicate  the  ten  things 
to  do  in  an  aiming  drill,  and  all  aiming  drills  should 
be  conducted  with  the  same  care  as  shooting  to  hit. 

(a)  Conduct  the  aiming  drill  by  using  the  ten  com- 
mandments as  commands. 

(B)  Test  IX,  Small  Arms  Firing  Manual. 

9.  RAPID  LOADING. 

(A)  Training  in  rapid  loading  with  dummies  is 
usually  neglected.  For  this  reason  it  was  made  a 
leading  subject  in  this  instruction.  This  must  be 
practiced  until  each  student  becomes  expert. 

(a)  With  dummies. 

(6)  Test  VII,  Small  Arms  Firing  Manual. 

10.    RAPID-FIRE  AIMING  DRILLS. 

(A)  Rapid-fire  aiming  drills  are  the  same  as  the  ten 
commandment  aiming  drills,  except  the  speed  is  in- 
creased to  rapid-fire  time.  After  rapid-fire  time  is 
mastered  the  maximum  rate  per  minute  may  be  used. 

(a)  They  should  be  conducted  first  without  dum- 
mies. 

(&)   With  dummies. 

(c)  Test  X,  Small  Arms  Firing  Manual. 

(d)  Care  to  prevent  injury  from  dummies. 


22 

11.    SIGHT    SETTING. 

(A)  Corrections  should  be  estimated  in  inches  from 
the  center  of  the  bull's-eye.     One  point  of  wind  will 
move  a  hit  4  inches  for  each  100  yards  distance  from 
the  target  and  in  the  same  direction  that  the  wind 
gauge  is  moved.     One  hundred  yards  elevation  will 
move  a  hit  on  the  target  in  inches  equal  to  the  square 
of  the  number  of  hundred  yards  distance. 

(B)  Table  of  exact  movement  of  hits  is  found  at 
top  of  page  73,  description  and  rules  for  1903  rifle 
No.   1923.     When  battle  sight  is  used  this  windage 
must  be  increased  by  approximately  one-third. 

(C)  Corrections  for  finding  the  target  when  missing 
should  be  for  one-half  the  height  of  target  for  eleva- 
tion and  one-half  the  width  for  windage. 

(D)  Average  speed  of  wind  is  estimated  over  the 
whole  ground  and  the  wind  gauge  is  moved  into  the 
wind  as  shown  by  the  second  table,  page  73,  No.  1923. 

(E)  12  and  6  o'clock  winds  affect  only  the  elevation 
and  the  effect  is  slight  at  the  short  and  mid  ranges. 
At  1,000  yards  25  yards  of  elevation  equals  a  10-mile 
wind.    Table  on  page  74,  No.  1923. 

(F)  Mirage  or  heat  waves  should  be  treated  as  a 
wind  flag  and  corrections  made  for  speed  and  direc- 
tions of  the  wind  as  shown  by  the  moving  mirage  and 
in  accordance  with  the  windage  tables. 

(G)  The  aiming  point  is  slightly  indirect  when  6 
o'clock  is  used,  being  below  the  hitting  point  or  center 
of  the  bull's-eye.     When  the  battle  sight  is  used  at 
short  distances  it  is  still  lower,  hence  more  indirect. 
Higher  elevation  is  required  to  offset  the  lower  aiming 
point. 


23 

(H)  The  effect  of  light  on  sight  setting  is  indi- 
vidual and  each  man  must  determine  for  himself  by 
actual  shooting.  Care  in  looking  at  the  outline  of  the 
sights  and  the  target  will  reduce  light  effect.  Heat 
raises  the  hit ;  cold  lowers  it ;  moisture  raises  it,  and 
dryness  lowers  it. 

(I)  To  set  a  Winchester  A-5  telescopic  sight,  bore- 
sight  the  rifle  for  both  zero  elevation  and  windage. 
Add  together  all  of  the  serial  numbers  for  each  100 
yards  distance;  the  total  will  be  the  number  of 
graduations  to  raise  the  sight  for  elevation  up  to  600 
yards.  Above  600  yards  50  per  cent  more  than  the 
serial  numbers  must  be  added.  For  windage  move 
the  sight  from  zero  the  same  as  the  metallic  sight, 
counting  each  graduation  one-eighth  of  a  point. 

12.  GALLERY   PRACTICE. 

(A)  Regular  targets. 

(B)  Animated  targets. 

13.  RANGE   OPERATION. 

(A)  Range  officers  and  duties. 

(B)  Pit  officers  and  duties. 

(C)  Scorers  and  duties. 

(D)  Pit  detail  and  duties. 

(E)  Organization  of  firing  details. 

(F)  Rotation  of  firing  sections. 

(G)  Instructors  for  firing  sections. 
(H)  Amount  of  firing. 

(I)  Operation  order. 

14.    RECORDS. 

(A)  Notes. 

(B)  Scorebooks. 

(C)  Statistics. 


24 

15.    EXTERIOR    BALLISTICS. 

(A)  Trajectory. 

(B)  Range. 

(C)  Line  of  site. 

(D)  Line  of  departure. 

(E)  Angle  of  site. 

(F)  Angle  of  departure. 

(G)  Friction. 

(H)   Theory  of  drift. 

(I)   Primer,  powder,  bullet. 

( J)  Parallelogram  of  forces. 

(K)   Kinetic  energy,  air  resistance,  gravity,  wind. 

(L)   Plotting  trajectory. 

(M)   Temperature  and  density. 

(N)   Striking  energy. 

16.    SAFETY    CAUTIONS. 

(A)  Never   fire   before    cleaning   cosmic   from   the 
barrel. 

(B)  Never   fire  when   the  barrel   is  plugged  with 
snow,  mud,  dirt,  or  other  obstruction. 

(C)  Never  fire  with  dust  in  the  barrel;  metal  foul- 
ing results. 

(D)  Always  clean  cosmic  from  the  bolt  and  main 
spring;  it  causes  misfires. 

(E)  Always  keep  the  bolt  open  on  the  rifle  range. 

(F)  Never  push  the  bolt  forward  with  the  leaf  sight 
laid  to  the  rear  (1917  rifle). 

(G)  If  necessary  to  lay  rifle  on  the  ground,  have 
the  bolt  up  and  the  muzzle  clear  of  the  ground. 

(H)  When  assembling  the  bolt  always  screw  the 
sleeve  clear  up;  otherwise  misfires  will  result.  (1917 
rifle.) 


(I)  Never  put  the  finger  on  the  trigger  except  at 
time  of  firing  or  in  a  proper  drill. 

(J)  Always  turn  safety  lock  clear  back  and  never 
squeeze  the  trigger  when  pushing  the  safety  lock  to 
the  ready  position. 

(K)  The  bayonet  must  always  be  securely  fastened 
to  the  rifle  before  firing  with  fixed  bayonet. 

(L)  Never  point  a  rifle  at  any  person  except  in 
battle. 

(M)  Never  aim  or  squeeze  the  trigger  after  issue  of 
ammunition  except  at  the  target. 

(N)  Ball  cartridges  will  never  be  mixed  with  dum- 
mies and  never  taken  to  quarters. 

17.    EANGE   FIRING. 

(A)  Preliminary    slow    fire,    using    10    command- 
ments. 

(B)  Fire  for  groups  at  short  range. 

(C)  As  soon  as  good  groups  are  fired — • 
(a)  Determine  normal  elevations. 

(&)  Zero  for  windage. 

(D)  Begin   rapid-fire   practice    after    normals   and 
zero  are  found. 

(E)  Also  increase  the  distance  in  slow  fire  as  fast 
as  improvement  in  holding  will  permit. 

(a)  The  test  of  how  long  a  range  to  fire  is  the  hit 
on  the  target. 

(&)  Is  ready  to  fire  at  1,000  yards  when  can  stay 
on  the  target. 

(c)  There  is  more  value  in  firing  one  shot  at  long 
range  than  several  shots  at  short  range  if  the  holding 
is  good  enough  to  stay  on  the  target  and  improve  after 
the  hits  are  marked. 


26 

(F)  Sniping  firing— 

(a)  Is  improved  by  proper  building  of  sniping  posts. 

(6)  First  build  for  position  of  man,  rifle,  and  sand- 
bag, whether  prone,  sitting,  or  standing. 

(c)  Adjust  man,  rifle,  and  sandbag  in  position,  and 
then  build  port  hole  to  fit. 

(G)  Record  firing — 

(a)  Is  a  test  of  the  training. 

18.    FUNCTIONING    AND   REPAIRS. 

(A)  Functioning  of  clip  and  cartridges. 

(B)  Of  bolt. 

(C)  Of  trigger. 

(D)  Primary  extraction;  extraction  and  ejection. 

(E)  Locking. 

(F)  Loading. 

(G)  Fixing  trigger  squeeze. 

19.    INTEREST    AND    ENTHUSIASM. 

Recoil  drills. 
Buck  fever. 

20.   DAILY    CRITIQUE    AND    REVIEW. 

(A)  Solves  each  man's  troubles  for  everybody. 

(B)  Secures  uniformity. 

(C)  Makes  the  instruction  impressive. 


RIFLE  TRAINING  FOR  WAR. 


CHAPTER  1. 

NOMENCLATURE,   DISMOUNTING,   AND   ASSEMBLING 
RIFLE. 

(A)  It  is  not  here  intended  to  give  the  details  of 
description  as  laid  down  in  pamphlet  "No.  1923 — 
Description  and  Rules  for  the  Management  of  the 
United  States  Rifle,  Caliber  .30,  Model  of  1903,"  and 
for  a  fuller  description  reference  should  be  made  to 
this  pamphlet. 

The  bolt  and  magazine  mechanism  can  be  dis- 
mounted without  removing  the  stock.  The  latter 
should  never  be  done,  except  for  making  repairs,  and 
then  only  by  some  selected  and  instructed  man. 

Place  the  cut-off  at  the  center  notch ;  cock  the  arm 
and  turn  the  safety  lock  to  a  vertical  position,  raise 
the  bolt  handle,  and  draw  out  the  bolt. 

Hold  bolt  in  left  hand,  press  sleeve  lock  in  with 
thumb  of  right  hand  to  unlock  sleeve  from  bolt,  and 
unscrew  sleeve  by  turning  to  the  left. 

Hold  sleeve  between  forefinger  and  thumb  of  the 
left  hand,  draw  cocking  piece  back  with  middle  finger 
and  thumb  of  right  hand,  turn  safety  lock  down  to  the 
left  with  the  forefinger  of  the  right  hand,  in  order  to 
allow  the  cocking  piece  to  move  forward  in  sleeve, 
thus  partially  relieving  the  tension  of  mainspring; 
with  the  cocking  piece  against  the  breast,  draw  back 
the  firing-pin  sleeve  with  the  forefinger  and  thumb  of 
right  hand  and  hold  it  in  this  position  while  removing 
(27) 


28 

tlie  striker  with  the  left  hand ;  remove  firing-pin  sleeve 
and  mainspring;  pull  firing  pin  out  of  sleeve;  turn 
the  extractor  to  the  right,  forcing  its  tongue  out  of  its 
groove  in  the  front  of  the  bolt,  and  force  the  extractor 
forward  and  off  the  bolt. 

To  assemble  bolt  mechanism. — Grasp  with  the  left 
hand  the  rear  of  the  bolt,  handle  up,  and  turn  the 
extractor  collar  with  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of  the 
right  hand  until  its  lug  is  on  a  line  with  the  safety 
lug  on  the  bolt ;  take  the  extractor  in  the  right  hand 
and  insert  the  lug  on  the  collar  in  the  undercuts  in 
the  extractor  by  pushing  the  extractor  to  the  rear 
until  its  tongue  comes  in  contact  with  the  rim  on  the 
face  of  the  bolt  (a  slight  pressure  with  the  left  thumb 
on  the  top  of  the  rear  part  of  the  extractor  assists  in 
this  operation)  ;  turn  the  extractor  to  the  right  until 
it  is  over  the  right  lug;  take  the  bolt  in  the  right 
hand  and  press  the  hook  of  the  extractor  against  the 
butt  plate  or  some  rigid  object  until  the  tongue  of  the 
extractor  enters  its  groove  in  the  bolt. 

With  the  safety  lock  turned  down  to  the  left  to 
permit  the  firing  pin  to  enter  the  sleeve  as  far  as 
possible,  assemble  the  sleeve  and  firing  pin ;  place  the 
cocking  piece  against  the  breast  and  put  on  main- 
spring, firing-pin  sleeve,  and  striker.  Hold  the  cocking 
piece  between  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of  the  left 
hand,  and  by  pressing  the  striker  point  against  some 
substance  not  hard  enough  to  injure  it,  force  the 
cocking  piece  back  until  the  safety  lock  can  be  turned 
to  the  vertical  position  with  the  right  hand;  insert 
the  firing  pin  in  the  bolt  and  screw  up  the  sleeve  (by 
turning  it  to  the  right)  until  the  sleeve  lock  enters  its 
notch  on  the  bolt 


29 

See  that  the  cut-off  is  at  the  center  notch ;  hold 
the  piece  under  floor  plate  in  the  fingers  of  the  left 
hand,  the  thumb  extending  over  the  left  side  of  the 
receiver;  take  bolt  in  right  hand  with  safety  lock  in 
a  vertical  position  and  safety  lug  up ;  press  rear  end 
of  follower  down  with  left  thumb  and  push  bolt  into 
the  receiver ;  lower  bolt  handle ;  turn  safety  lock  and 
cut-off  down  to  the  left  with  right  hand. 

(B)  To  dismount  magazine  mechanism. — With  the 
bullet  end  of  a  cartridge  press  the  floor  plate  catch 
(through  the  hole  in  the  floor  plate)  at  the  same  time 
drawing  the  bullet  to  the  rear ;  this  releases  the  floor 
plate. 

Raise  the  rear  end  of  the  first  limb  of  the  magazine 
spring  high  enough  to  clear  the  lug  on  the  floor  plate 
and  draw  it  out  of  its  mortise;  proceed  in  the  same 
manner  to  remove  the  follower. 

To  assemble  magazine  spring  and  follower  to  floor 
plate,  reverse  operation  of  dismounting. 

Insert  the  follower  and  magazine  spring  in  the 
magazine,  place  the  tenon  on  the  front  end  of  the 
floor  plate  in  its  recess  in  the  magazine,  then  place 
the  lug  on  the  rear  end  of  the  floor  plate  in  its  slot 
in  the  guard,  and  press  the  rear  end  of  the  floor  plate 
forward  and  inward  at  the  same  time,  forcing  the 
floor  plate  into  its  seat  in  the  guard, 

(C)  To  complete  dismounting   (not  to  be  done  by 
soldier). — The  bolt  and  magazine  mechanism  having 
been  dismounted,  proceed  as  follows: 

1.  Turn  safety  lock  to  dismounting  bevel  on  sleeve 
and  remove  it  by  striking  the  thumb  piece  a  light 
blow. 


30 

2.  To  dismount  the  sleeve  lock,   drive  out  sleeve 
lock  pin  from  the  top  and  remove  lock  and  spring, 
being  careful  not  to  lose  the  spring. 

3.  Remove  front  sight  pin  and  remove  front  sight. 

4.  Press   in   rear   end   of  lower   band   spring   and 
drive  forward  the  lower  band  by  a  few  sharp  blows 
on  the  lug  and  then  on  top  with  a  hardwood  block. 

5.  Remove  upper  band  screw  and  drive  upper  band 
forward,  in  the  same  manner  prescribed  for  the  lower 
band. 

6.  Move  upper  band  forward  on  barrel  until  stopped 
by  movable  stud,  and  then  remove  lower  band  by  slip- 
ping it  over  upper  band  and  movable  stud.    To  remove 
upper  band  entirely  from  barrel  requires  the  removal 
of  the  front  sight  screw  and  movable  stud. 

7.  Draw  hand  guard  forward  until  free  from  the 
fixed  base  and  remove. 

8.  Remove  guard   screws   and  guard.     It  may  be 
necessary  to  tap  gently  on  the  front  and  rear  of  the 
guard  bow  to  loosen. 

9.  Remove  barrel  and  receiver  from  stock. 

10.  To   remove   the   lower   band    spring,    drive   its 
spindle  out  of  its  hole  in  the  stock  from  the  left. 

11.  Unscrew  the  butt  swivel  screws  and  remove  the 
butt  swivel  plate  from  stock.     The  butt  swivel,  con- 
sisting  of   the   plate,    swivel,    and   pin,   permanently 
assembled,  is  issued  complete. 

12.  Unscrew   butt   plate   screws   and   remove   butt 
plate  from  stock. 

13.  Unscrew  butt  plate  spring  screw   and   remove 
the  butt  plate  spring;  drive  out  butt  plate  pin  and 
remove  butt  plate  cap. 


31 

14.  Remove  cut-off  by  loosening  the  screw  in  the 
end  of  the  thumb  piece  until  it  disengages  the  groove 
in  the  cut-off  spindle ;  insert  the  blade  of  a  screw 
driver  in  the  notch  in  the  rear  end  of  the  spindle  and 
force  it  out.    Remove  the  spring  and  the  plunger,  be- 
ing careful  not  to  lose  them. 

15.  Remove  the  ejector  by  driving  out  the  ejector 
pin  from  the  upper  side. 

16.  Remove  sear  and  trigger  by  driving  out  the  sear 
pin  from  the  right,  being  careful  not  to  lose  the  sear 
spring. 

17.  Remove  trigger  from  sear  by  driving  out  the 
trigger  pin  from  either  side. 

18.  Remove  floor  plate  catch  and  spring  by  driving 
out  the  pin  from  either  side. 

19.  Remove  bolt  stop  by  inserting  a  small  punch  or 
end  of  striker  in  the  hole  in  the  left  end  and  forcing  it 
from  its  pocket. 

The  leaf  should  never  be  removed  from  the  mov- 
able base  except  for  the  purpose  of  making  repairs. 

The  fixed  base  and  the  fixed  stud  should  never  be 
removed  from  the  barrel.  The  barrel  should  never  be 
unscrewed  from  the  receiver.  The  barrel  and  receiver 
may  be  assembled  only  at  ordnance  establishments 
properly  equipped  for  this  work,  for  which  reason 
requisition  should  always  call  for  barrels  and  re- 
ceivers assembled  and  not  for  barrels  alone. 

To  assemble  after  dismounting. — Reverse  and  follow 
in  inverse  order  the  operatings  of  dismounting. 

In  assembling  the  sleeve  lock  to  the  sleeve,  be  care- 
ful to  compress  the  lock  and  spring  while  driving  in 
the  pin  from  the  bottom  of  the  sleeve. 


32 

To  assemble  the  safety  lock  and  sleeve,  insert  the 
safety  lock  spindle  in  its  hole  in  the  sleeve  as  far  as 
it  will  go ;  then,  with  the  thumb  piece  vertical  and 
pressed  against  some  rigid  object,  introduce  the  point 
of  the  tool  provided  for  this  purpose  between  the 
safety  lock  spindle  and  the  safety  lock  plunger,  forc- 
ing the  latter  into  the  thumb  piece  until  it  slips  over 
the  edge  of  the  sleeve.  Further  pressure  on  the 
safety  lock  thumb  piece,  together  with  the  gradual 
withdrawal  of  the  tool,  will  complete  the  assembling. 

In  assembling  pins  and  screws,  note  directions  for 
replacing  broken  parts  on  page  47,  "  Description  and 
rules  for  the  management  of  the  United  States  rifle, 
caliber  .30,  model  of  1903." 

The  floor  plate  spring  and  the  cut-off  spring  are 
alike,  except  in  length.  The  latter  being  the  longer, 
care  should  be  taken  not  to  substitute  one  for  the 
other. 

(D)  In  addition  to  the  formal  naming  of  the  parts 
of  the  rifle,  emphasis  should  be  placed  upon  the  im- 
portant parts.  Some  of  them  are  so  important,  the 
mechanical  measurements  should  be  learned.  Some  of 
the  functions  are  likewise  so  important  that  they  de- 
serve special  study.  Among  these  the  three  things 
that  are  of  the  most  vital  concern  are:  The  lands  at 
the  muzzle,  the  guard  screws,  and  the  trigger  squeeze. 

1.  Lands  at  muzzle. — No  rifle  will  shoot  accurately 
unless  the  lands  at  the  muzzle  are  right.  This  is 
the  most  delicate  part  of  the  whole  rifle.  In  the  manu- 
facture the  caliber  on  the  face  of  the  lands  is  deter- 
mined by  a  minimum  and  maximum  gauge.  The  mini- 
mum is  0.2999,  or  0.0001  less  than  .30  caliber,  and 
the  maximum  is  0.302,  or  0.002  more  than  .30  caliber. 


33 

If  the  barrel  will  not  take  the  minimum  gauge,  the 
caliber  is  too  small,  and  it  is  rejected  for  that  reason. 
If  it  does  take  the  maximum  gauge  it  is  too  large 
and  is  rejected  for  that  reason.  When  the  rifle  is 
so  worn  that  it  will  take  a  0.304  gauge  at  the  muzzle, 
it  is  ready  for  the  worn-out  test.  The  difference  be- 
tween this  gauge  and  the  minimum  bore  is  only 
0.004  of  an  inch — there  is,  0.0001  tolerance  or  clearance 
between  the  gauge  and  the  bore ;  but  this  may  be  dis- 
regarded because  that  much  is  required  for  the  clear- 
ance of  the  gauge  in  all  cases.  Therefore,  the  differ- 
ence in  diameter  of  the  closest  made  new  rifle  and  the 
worn-out  rifle  is  only  0.004  of  an  inch.  Hence,  a  wear 
on  the  face  of  each  land  of  one-half  that  amount,  or 
0.002,  is  enough  to  wear  out  the  rifle.  This  is  the  maxi- 
mum amount,  and  since  rifles  are  made  with  the 
maximum  caliber  of  0.302,  the  difference  between  that 
and  the  worn-out  rifle  is  only  0.001.  Whenever  the 
lands  are  worn  even  these  delicate  amounts  the  rifle  is 
worn  out  and  its  accuracy  is  gone.  In  order  to  appre- 
ciate these  measurements,  consider  that  a  human  hair 
is  about  0.0015  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  These  gauge 
figures  are  for  the  1917  rifle,  but  they  illustrate  the 
1903  rifle  with  equal  significance. 

Anyone  who  will  study  these  figures  will  be  con- 
vinced that  muzzle  cleaning  in  any  form  and  by  any 
method  should  be  prohibited  at  all  times.  Even  a  cord 
will  easily  wear  off  this  delicate  amount  from  the 
corner  of  the  lands  at  the  muzzle. 

2.  The   guard   screws. — At   first   glance   the   guard 

screws  would  not  seem  to  be  of  any  more  importance 

than  any  other  screw  or  part  of  the  rifle,  but  such  is 

not  the  fact.    The  rifle  barrel  is  made  to  swing  upon 

130339° — 19 3 


34 

the  guard  screws.  Its  accuracy  depends  upon  the 
guard  screws  being  tight.  If  either  guard  screw  is 
loose  the  rifle  will  surely  be  erratic  in  its  shooting. 
If  anything  goes  wrong  with  the  shooting  of  the  rifle, 
the  first  thing  to  investigate  is  the  guard  screws.  If 
they  are  loose,  that  is  the  trouble,  and  to  tighten 
them  will  cure  it.  In  all  cases  they  must  be  tight. 

3.  The  trigger  squeeze. — The  trigger  and  sear  func- 
tion together.  The  first  bearing  of  the  trigger  pushes 
the  sear  nose  downward  in  the  sear  notch.  The  sec- 
ond bearing,  which  is  the  trigger  heel,  pushes  the  sear 
nose  out  of  the  sear  notch  and  releases  the  striker. 
This  double  squeeze  has  a  distinct  value  in  rifle  shoot- 
ing. The  first  squeeze  is  to  give  command  of  the 
trigger,  and  the  second  to  release  the  striker  and  dis- 
charge the  piece  after  the  sight  alignment  is  correct. 
It  takes  more  pressure  for  a  proper  final  squeeze,  but 
there  should  be  no  drags,  creeps,  or  stops  in  it.  The 
double  squeeze  and  the  mechanism  that  produces  it 
deserve  special  attention.  Every  officer  should  learn 
the  accurate  mechanical  operation  necessary  to  make 
a  perfect  trigger  squeeze.  This  is  fully  explained  in 
the  chapter  on  repairs. 

(E)  Comparison  of  the  service  rifles. — The  service 
rifles  are  now  designated  as  the  United  States  rifle, 
Model  1903  and  Model  1917. 

Ammunition. — Both  rifles  are  chambered  for  the 
same  ammunition,  and  the  initial  velocity  is  approxi- 
mately 2,700  feet  per  second  for  each  rifle;  perhaps 
about  60  feet  greater  for  the  1917. 

Weight  and  length. — The  1917  model  weighs  9 
pounds  6  ounces,  as  against  8.69  pounds  for  the  1903 


35 

model.  This  gives  an  increased  weight  of  something 
over  a  pound,  and  slightly  reduces  the  recoil. 

The  length  of  the  1917  model  is  46.37  inches,  and  of 
the  1903,  43.212  inches.  This  extra  3  inches  in  length 
is  divided  between  the  stock  and  the  barrel,  the  new 
model  being  1  inch  longer  in  the  stock  and  2  inches 
longer  in  the  barrel.  This  slightly  increased  length 
of  barrel  causes  a  more  complete  burning  of  the  pow- 
der, hence  gives  a  greater  muzzle  velocity. 

Sights. — It  will  be  noticed  that  the  1917  has  no 
wind-gauge  correction,  while  the  1903  has,  and  this 
permits  a  greater  accuracy,  for  the  wind  gauge  per- 
mits the  more  accurate  6-o'clock  hold  at  all  times. 
It  has  been  found,  however,  that  a  fair  degree  of  ac- 
curacy can  be  obtained  by  proper  instruction  and 
practice  in  holding  off  for  windage. 

Battle  sight. — The  1917  has  a  peep  battle  sight  with 
an  elevation  of  400  yards,  whereas  the  1903  has  an 
open  battle  sight  with  an  elevation  of  about  547 
yards.  In  other  word&,  at  200  yards  the  center  of  im- 
pact in  the  1903  model  is  26  inches  above  the  point 
of  aim,  and  at  300  yards  it  is  28  inches,  while  the 
point  of  impact  in  the  19i7  is  only  14  inches  at  200 
yards  and  10  inches  at  300  yards.  It  is  possible  with 
a  new  model,  shooting  at  the  D  target,  to  place  all 
the  hits  within  the  19-inch  figure  for  elevation  by 
aiming  at  the  bottom  of  the  figure  on  either  of  the 
ranges  from  400  to  100  yards.  With  the  1903  model 
it  is  necessary  to  aim  19  inches  beneath  the  figure  at 
200  yards  and  21  inches  at  300  yards.  The  figures 
relative  to  the  points  of  impact  given  above  are  only 
approximate,  and  vary  with  individual  rifles. 


36 

There  is  no  argument  concerning  the  relative  ac- 
curacy of  a  peep  and  an  open  battle  sight.  Among  the 
better  class  of  riflemen  this  matter  was  decided  in 
favor  of  the  peep  long  ago. 

Front-sight  adjustment. — In  the  1903  we  have  a 
variation  of  front  sights  from  0.35  inch  to  0.41  inch, 
or  0.06  inch.  There  are  11  sizes  of  front  sights  in 
the  1917  model  starting  with  minus  0.015  and  going 
to  plus  0.135  by  0.015-inch  variation,  a  total  of  0.15. 
This  usually  permits  complete  elevation  correction  for 
the  1917  model  at  200  and  300  yards  for  the  battle 
sight. 

Zero  windage. — The  1903  has  no  adjustment  for 
zero  windage.  This  zero-windage  adjustment  is  made 
on  the  1917  by  the  movement  of  the  front  sight  lat- 
erally. 

Sight  radius.— The  sight  radius  of  the  1917  is  a 
little  over  10  inches  greater ;  to  be  exact,  the  sight 
radius  of  the  1903  is  0.215049,  the  1917,  0.3169  inch. 
This  increased  sight  radius  increases  accuracy  of 
aim. 

The  fact  that  the  sight  on  the  model  1917  is  mounted 
over  the  receiver  and  is  closer  to  the  eye  does 
away  with  part  of  the  muscular  strain  of  the  eye 
and  makes  it  easier  to  sight  the  rifle. 

In  sighting  a  rifle  there  is  a  continual  checking 
of  sight  alignment  by  the  focus  of  the  eye,  first  on 
the  sights  and  then  on  the  target.  The  larger  peep 
makes  the  target  easier  to  find,  and  the  fact  that 
the  1917  model  has  the  sight  closer  to  the  eye  makes 
it  easier  to  get  the  proper  sight  alignment.. 

A  smaller  peep  on  the  1917  will  be  more  accurate 
in  target  practice  and  also  in  battle  for  the  longer 


37 

ranges ;  but  for  the  battle  sight,  because  of  the  larger 
field  and  the  greater  opportunity  of  catching  the 
target  in  rapid  fire,  it  is  considered  better  to  have 
the  larger  size. 

Drift. — The  1903  model  has  the  automatic  correc- 
tion for  part  of  the  drift,  and  the  1917  has  none; 
but  it  must  be  considered  in  this  respect  that  the 
drift  as  shown  by  the  tables,  the  total  drift  on  the 
1903  at  500  yards  is  absolutely  zero,  and  the  greatest 
uncorrected  drift  up  to  500  yards,  where  it  is  zero, 
is  0.45  inch  at  300  yards,  and  beyond  the  500-yard 
range  the  drift  at  600  yards  is  only  0.55  inch.  The 
question  of  drift  is  not  important  at  ranges  below  700 
yards;  for  it  is  considerably  less  in  extent  than  the 
limits  within  which  the  best  riflemen  can  hold. 

Elevation  adjustment. — The  1903  has  very  accurate 
adjustment  for  elevation,  which  is  a  great  advantage 
over  the  1917.  The  1917  adjusts  only  by  100-yard 
notches  up  to  900  yards,  and  by  50-yard  notches  above 
that. 

Conclusion. — Giving  due  weight  to  all  of  these 
facts,  it  is  a  fair  conclusion  to  say  that  the  1917 
battle  sight  is  more  accurate,  and  better  suited  to 
men  both  for  battle  and  target  firing,  and  the  mar- 
gin in  its  favor  is  quite  substantial.  It  is  equally 
true  that  the  1903  with  its  wind  gauge,  is  more  ac- 
curate elevation  adjustment,  and  smaller  peep  is 
better  suited  for  both  target  and  battle  firing  at  the 
longer  ranges. 

Bayonet  efficiency. — The  1917  having  the  greatest 
length,  and  also  the  longer  bayonet,  it  has  the  ad- 
vantage, the  bayonet  of  the  1903  being  20.587  inches 
and  the  bayonet  of  the  1917,  21.655  inches. 


38 

Bore. — The  1903  has  four  grooves  and  four  lands 
of  a  depth  of  0.004  inch;  the  1917  has  five  grooves 
and  five  lands  of  a  depth  of  0.005  inch.  The  width 
of  the  grooves  of  the  1903  are  0.1767  inch  and  on  the 
1917  0.0936  inch.  The  width  of  the  lands  on  the 
1903  are  0.0589  inch,  and  on  the  1917,  0.0936  inch.  On 
both  rifles  the  twTist  is  1  turn  in  10  inches,  the  twist 
in  the  1903  being  to  the  right  and  in  the  1917  being 
to  the  left.  These  differences  do  not  very  materially 
affect  the  accuracy  of  the  two  rifles.  The  wider 
lands  of  the  1917  may  increase  the  life  of  the  barrel 
because  of  the  greater  thickness  of  metal  wearing 
against  the  side  friction,  and  the  greater  depth  of  the 
grooves  might  slightly  increase  the  dispersion. 

Bolt  action. — The  1903  is  brought  to  a  full  cock  on 
the  raising  of  the  bolt  handle.  This  is  done  by  means 
of  a  camming  action  of  the  cocking  piece  of  the  bolt. 
The  1917  half  cocks  on  the  raising  of  the  bolt  handle 
by  similar  camming  action,  and  the  full  cock  is  by 
hand  pressure  compressing  the  mainspring  on  the 
forward  movement  of  the  bolt.  The  pressure  exerted 
on  the  forward  movement  of  the  bolt  must  overcome 
the  entire  tension  of  the  mainspring.  It  will  thus  be 
seen  that  it  is  harder  to  raise  the  handle  of  the  1903 
bolt  because  the  mainspring  is  compressed  at  that 
time ;  but  it  is  harder  to  push  the  bolt  forward  on  the 
1917,  at  which  time  the  mainspring  is  compressed. 
A  running  start  can  be  had  and  the  bolt  snapped  home 
on  the  1917,  but  the  bolt  of  the  1903  must  be  lifted 
by  main  strength.  After  proper  training  in  manipu- 
lation the  bolt  action  of  the  1917  is  better  for  rapid 
fire. 


39 

Triggers. — The  trigger  squeeze  of  the  two  rifles  is 
substantially  the  same,  based  upon  the  idea  of  a 
double  squeeze,  caused  by  two  separate  bearings 
against  the  receiver.  The  first  pushes  the  sear  nose 
well  down  in  the  sear  notch  and  gives  the  "command 
hold  of  the  trigger."  On  the  final  squeeze  the  heel 
bearing  pushes  the  sear  nose  out  of  the  sear  notch 
and  releases  the  striker.  The  squeeze  of  the  1917  is 
usually  heavier  than  the  1903,  but  that  is  no  dis- 
advantage providing  the  final  squeeze  has  no  drags, 
creeps,  or  stops. 

Each  soldier  should  be  required  to  pass  Tests  I 
and  II  of  Change  20  of  the  Small-Arms  Firing 
Manual. 


I 


CHAPTER  2. 
THE  CARE  AND  CLEANING  OF  RIFLE. 


In  a  climate  that  will  permit,  all  firing  should  be 
done  with  greased  bullets  during  the  training  period. 
It  may  be  both  undesirable  and  impossible  to  use 
grease  in  battle,  but  its  use  preserves  the  rifle  to  such 
an  extent  that  it  should  be  used  in  training.  A 
range  covered  with  blowing  sand  will  preclude  the  use 
of  grease,  but  there  is  a  wax  combination  equally 
good  which  may  be  used  under  these  conditions. 

The  grease  or  wax  must  be  kept  clean.  If  mixed 
with  sand  and  dirt  it  ruins  the  rifle.  If  kept  clean  it 
will  more  than  double  the  life  of  the  rifle  and  reduce 
acid  fouling  and  prevent  metal  fouling.  Mobilubri- 
cant,  Polarine  cup  grease,  or  Keystone  journal  grease 


40 

are  suitable  for  this  purpose,  MIM!  can  be  obtained 
anywhere.  A  i  hin  tihn  of  grease  should  be  applied  to 
the  bullet,  bul  none  to  the  case.  11'  grease  is  used  the 
burned  residue  will  protect  the  rille  for  about  one 
day,  but  the  only  safe  way  to  care  for  it  is  to  wipe 
this  residue  out  and  oil  thoroughly  after  firing.  Tin* 
residue  is  not  hard  to  remove  when  greased  bullets 
are  used.  If  dry  bullets  are  used  the  rille  must  be 
cleaned  immediately  and  must  also  be  wiped  ajrain 
the  next  day  to  prevent  acid  foil  I'm  IT. 

The  rille  is  preserved  by  oiling  after  thorough 
Cleaning.  The  main  purpose  of  cleaning  is  to  put  the 
rifle  in  condition  so  it  can  be  inspected  and  so  it  can 
be  properly  oiled.  An  excessive  amount  of  rubbing 
the  rille  with  a  cleaning  patch  will  wear  it  out  and 
ruin  it.  All  unnecessary  rubbing  should  be  avoided. 
Knoutfli  should  be  done  only  to  remove  the  residue. 

The  oiling  is  the  important  tiling.  If  a  rille  is  in- 
siHvted  clean  and  shining,  it  should  be  oiled  imme- 
diately and  inspected  a.^ain.  The  shining  inspection 
is  not  sullicient.  It  will  show  the  condition  of  the 
rille,  but  nothing  more.  If  the  rille  is  to  be  preserved, 
it  must  be  oiled  afterwards.  Orders  for  oiling  will 
not.  ^ret  ritles  oiled.  They  must  be  inspected  to  see 
that  the  orders  arc  carried  out.  In  the  field  rillcs 
should  be  inspected  daily  for  oil.  Once  a  week  is 
enough  to  wipe  them  out  and  inspect  them  shining. 

To  clean  and  oil  after  firing: 

(1)  Run  one  titrlit  dry  patch  completely  through 
bore  once. 

(LM  Put  warm  sal-soda  solution  CJO  per  cent 
strength)  in  can  or  pan,  insert  muzzle  of  rifle  in  solu- 
tion, and  pump  up  through  bore  by  means  of  wiping 


41 

rod  and  patch.  (This  can  he  done  by  pull  through  if 
cleaning  rods  are  not  available).  Cold  soda  solution 
can  be  used,  but  is  not  MS  good  as  warm.  It'  no  s.ii 
soda  is  available,  use  hot  water.  Common  soda  is 
good  for  this  purpose.  This  removes  the  powder  foul- 
ing  and  prevents  the  acid  rearti«»n  from  the  powder 
residue. 

(3)  Dry  thoroughly  with  patches  and  cleaning  rod, 
keeping  the  rubbing  to  a  minimum.     'I'll is  rubbing  is 
for  drying  only  and  not  to  bring  the  last  patch  through 
P«  rfectly  clean. 

(4)  If  metal  fouling  adheres  to  the  bore  in  visible 
patches,  the  rifle  should  be  taken  to  an  expert,  who 
will   remove  the  fouling  with  an  ammonia  solution. 
Th»»    ordinary    soldier    should    not    use    the    ammonia 
solution;  it  has  ruined  more.  rihVs  when  so  used  th:m 
have  been  ruined  by  metal  fouling. 

<  >\\  with  sperm  oil  or  other  li^ht.  n<mvr-> 
oil  when  rifle  is  to  be  kept  in  daily  firing. 

If  rifle  is  to  be  stored  2  and  H*  must  h««  repeated 
the  following  day  and  then  apply  heavy  coating  of 
COBmolinr.  The  «  osmoline  should  be  heated  to  a  liquid. 
the  bore  plugged  at  the  breech,  the  heated  cosmoline 
poured  in,  filling  th»«  b«.n«.  Mini  thru  pour  This 

will  leave  a  heavy,  solid  coating  on  all  parts  of  the 
bore.  Rifle  should  be  in  a  moderately  warm  room  in 
winter  for  this  oilinir. 

Me  is  in  daily  u-»-  but  not  tirinj:,  "2  and  3 
mu<t  be  repeated  the  day  follow  MIL:  last  tirini:  and 
then  apply  a  coat  •Tm  oil  which  has  had 

>>d  in  it  a  small  amount  of  «'o»moljn»'.  This  will 
-erve  a  rifle  safely  one  week  unless  out  in  bad 
ther  conditions,  in  which  case  it  must  be  oiled 


42 

daily.  This  mixture  of  sperm  oil  and  cosmoline  is 
especially  recommended  and  is  usually  available. 

The  practice  of  conserving  oil  and  cleaning  mate- 
rials for  future  use  must  be  condemned.  They  should 
be  used  now  and  more  provided  for  the  future.  A 
$30  rifle  is  rusted  and  ruined  when  2  cents'  worth 
of  cleaning  material  would  preserve  it.  If  oil 
and  cleaning  material  are  on  hand  there  can  be  no 
excuse  for  rusted  rifles,  and  if  not  on  hand  they  should 
be  secured  at  once. 

Dissolve  cosmoline  in  sperm  oil  and  apply  to  all  the 
metal  parts  of  the  rifle,  and  until  removed  it  will  pre- 
vent injury  from  a  gas  attack.  If  not  oiled  in  this 
manner  after  a  gas  attack,  the  rifles  should  be  washed 
with  a  soda  solution,  dried,  and  oiled. 

In  order  to  do  all  these  things  properly  provide  a 
good  cleaning  rack  for  each  platoon. 


CHAPTER  3. 
A.  POSITION  DRILLS. 

Position  drills  are  the  first  in  preliminary  train- 
ing. A  short  time  should  be  devoted  to  teaching 
the  accurate  positions.  The  variations  allowed  in 
the  Small-Arms  Firing  Manual  to  suit  the  conforma- 
tions of  the  man  should  be  encouraged.  Positions 
should  be  uniform  for  the  purpose  of  fitting  the 
rifle  and  the  man  together,  and  not  for  the  purpose 
of  geometrical  measurements  or  forms. 

(a)  The  prone  position  is  the  most  reliable  of  all 
shooting  positions.  It  is  the  one  that  will  always  be 
used  when  the  terrain  will  permit.  In  this  position 
the  general  alignment  of  the  body  should  be  about 


43 

45  degrees  from  the  alignment  of  the  rifle.  This 
permits"  a  better  use  of  the  sling,  fits  the  body  to 
the  rifle  better,  and  avoids  injury  from  recoil  by 
an  elastic  rolling  of  the  body.  It  may  be  that  this 
position  would  not  be  assumed  in  battle;  that  the 
requirements  of  protection  by  cover  would  even  keep 
the  body  in  direct  alignment  with  the  rifle.  But  none 
of  these  things  are  any  argument  against  taking  the 
best  position  during  the  training  period.  The  posi- 
tion that  will  teach  the  best  hold  of  the  rifle  in 
the  shortest  time  is  the  best  to  use  during  the  train- 
ing. The  important  thing  is  learning  to  hold  the 
rifle.  When  that  is  learned  the  soldier  will  fire  from 
any  distorted  position  and  still  hold  his  rifle  because 
he  has  learned  how  to  do  it  and  knows  well  the  neces- 
sity. There  is  no  other  position  quite  equal  to  the 
prone  with  the  sling  and  without  the  sandbag. 

(&)  Next  to  the  prone,  the  sitting  position  is  the 
most  reliable.  It  is  quite  steady  and  if  each  man  is 
permitted  to  adjust  his  elbows  below  the  points  of 
his  knees  in  such  way  as  to  suit  his  conformation 
this  position  will  give  excellent  results.  It  is  im- 
possible to  get  good  results  if  the  elbows  are  rested 
on  the  points  of  the  kneecaps.  Each  man  must 
find  the  exact  point  that  fits  his  own  individuality. 
There  will  hot  be  a  wide  difference,  but  exact  uni- 
formity should  not  be  attempted.  The  sling  may  be 
used  in  this  position  with  the  arm  through  the  loop 
the  same  as  in  the  prone  position  or  the  grapevine 
sling  may  be  used.  This  position  is  higher  and  may  be 
used  in  battle  when  the  prone  is  impossible. 

(c)  The  kneeling  position  is  not  so  steady  as  the 
sitting  position.  This  position  is  very  much  improved 


44 

when  a  man  can  turn  his  foot  and  sit  on  the  side  of  it. 
This  position  is  authorized  and  should  be  encouraged, 
but  it  is  impossible  for  about  30  per  cent  of  the  men. 
In  the  kneeling  position  the  grapevine  sling  is  the 
best.  This  position  is  still  higher  than  sitting. 

(d)  The   standing  position  without   a   rest   is   the 
most  difficult  of  all.    It  is  easy  for  the  manipulation 
of  the  rifle,  but  very  unsteady.     However,   it  must 
often  be  used  in  battle  and  especially  for  fire  during 
movement.     The  grapevine  sling  is  the  best  for  this 
position.     There  are  several  different  standing  posi- 
tions used  by  riflemen.    They  are  the  full-arm  exten- 
sion, the  half-arm  extension,  the  body  rest,  and  the 
hip  rest.     In  target  practice  in  light  winds  the  hip 
rest  is  most  accurate,  but  it  is  not  so  desirable  for 
battle  firing.    For  all  purposes  the  half-arm  extension 
and  grapevine  sling  makes  the  best  combination.    This 
is  the  highest  position  and  will  be  used  when  the  view 
is  impossible  from  the  others. 

(e)  The  standing  trench  position  has  developed  out 
of  trench  warfare.     It  is  a  very  important  position 
and,  with  the  sandbag  rest,  is  almost  as  reliable  as 
the  prone  and  much  easier.    In  this  position  the  sling 
should  not  be  used. 

B.  SLING  ADJUSTMENTS. 

(a)  For  the  prone  position  turn  the  upper  loop  of 
the  sling  and  pass  the  left  arm  through  from  the  right 
side.  Then  wrap  the  arm  around  the  sling  and  grasp 
the  stock  of  the  rifle  with  the  left  hand  at  the  point 
to  suit  the  length  of  the  arm.  The  lower  loop  of  the 
sling  is  left  loose  and  really  has  no  function  to  per- 


45 

form.  The  length  of  the  upper  loop  can  only  be  deter- 
mined by  trial,  but  must  be  made  to  fit  each  man. 
This  loop  should  be  adjusted  above  the  muscles  of 
the  upper  arm  and  held  in  place  by  the  keeper.  The 
sling  should  always  be  adjusted  in  such  length  as  to 
draw  tight,  which  can  only  be  learned  by  trial. 

(&)  In  the  sitting  position  the  sling  may  be  ad- 
justed as  in  the  prone,  or  the  grapevine  sling  may  be 
used  as  already  noted.  In  the  grapevine  sling  the 
hook  of  the  lower  loop  is  brought  up  into  the  holes  of 
the  upper  loop  at  such  a  length  as  will  permit  the 
whole  sling  to  be  turned  and  then  wrapped  around  the 
right  arm.  The  sling  then  draws  tight  across  the 
breast  and  holds  the  rifle  in  place  on  the  shoulder. 
The  arm  does  not  go  through  either  loop. 

(c)  In  the  kneeling  position  the  grapevine  sling  is 
the  best. 

(d)  In  the  standing  position  the  grapevine   sling 
is  the  best. 

(e)  In   the   standing  trench  position   the   sandbag 
rest  without  sling  is  the  best. 

C.  SANDBAG  ADJUSTMENTS. 

(a)  In  the  prone  position  with  the  sling  and  with 
the  sandbag  the  hand  should  rest  on  the  bag  and  the 
rifle  on  the  hand.  In  this  position  the  rifle  should 
not  be  permitted  to  touch  the  sandbag.  It  is  prac- 
tically the  same  as  the  regular  prone  position  with  the 
sandbag  adjusted  to  give  support  to  the  hand  without 
changing  its  position. 

(&)  The  next  best  prone  position  is  without  the 
sling  and  the  sandbag  placed  under  the  point  of  ex- 
plosion. This  is  an  easy  point  of  rest  to  obtain  and 


46 

it  is  the  easiest  of  all  shooting  positions.  It  is  also 
very  accurate  and  the  difference  if  any  between  it 
and  the  regular  prone  position  is  very  slight.  This 
difference  when  it  occurs  is  caused  by  resting  the 
rifle  on  the  sandbag  at  a  different  point.  After  each 
man  has  learned  to  shoot  a  good  group  in  this  posi- 
tion he  should  then  be  asked  to  take  a  rest  on  the 
sandbag  near  the  muzzle  of  his  rifle,  fire  a  few  shots, 
and  note  the  difference.  When  the  sandbag  rest  is 
used  it  is  important  that  the  rifle  be  rested  at  the 
same  point  for  each  shot,  and  the  best  point  is  under 
the  chamber  where  the  explosion  occurs.  This  rest 
stops  a  large  percentage  of  the  recoil,  and  makes 
holding  much  easier.  The  sling  is  no  assistance  what- 
ever, and  should  be  loosened  enough  to  put  to  one  side. 

(c)  In   the   standing  trench  position   the   sandbag 
rest  should  be  without  the  sling  and  exactly  the  same 
as  last  described  for  the  prone  position.     The  sand- 
bag should  be  so  adjusted  that  there  will  be  shelf 
room  for  the  resting  of  the  elbows.     If  these  things 
are  observed  the  results  of  this  position  will  be  just 
as  good  as  the  prone  position  with  the  sandbag  and 
without  the  sling. 

(d)  In  addition  to  these  positions  from  parapet, 
wall  top,  vertical  edge  of  wall,  door,  window,  tree  or 
such  other    positions    as    required    by    Test    No.    8, 
Charge  No.  20,  Small  Arms  Firing  Manual    should  be 
taught. 

D.  PUSH  AND  PULL  DRILL. 

The  push  and  pull  drill  is  some  aid  in  learning 
these  different  positions,  but  its  main  value  is  as  a 
setting-up  exercise  and  no  great  amount  of  time 
should  be  devoted  to  it  as  a  firing  drill. 


P  CHAPTER  4. 

MANIPULATION  DRILLS. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  position  drills  have  been 
taken  up.  We  now  come  to  a  manipulation  drill, 
and  hereafter  we  will  treat  of  an  aiming  drill.  Tell 
the  recruit  that  aiming  is  too  important  to  attempt 
at  the  very  start.  Tell  him  you  will  have  something 
to  say  later  about  real  aiming,  and  the  first  problem 
is  training  the  muscles  to  operate  the  rifle.  He  will 
take  the  positions  of  aiming,  but  in  the  manipulation 
drill  this  is  only  a  simulation.  See  that  he  so  under- 
stands it.  See  that  you  so  understand  it  yourself. 

Start  with  the  sling  and  the  standing  position. 
Use  all  the  positions,  but  prone  most.  Keep  the  rifle 
on  the  shoulder  as  the  bolt  is  worked  in  all  the 
positions.  Start  slowly  and  increase  the  speed 
gradually.  This  should  continue  until  the  reflexes 
perform  the  whole  operation  and  leave  the  mind 
free  to  think  about  the  aiming. 

The  watchword  of  manipulation  is  work.  The 
object  is  speed.  In  this  connection  it  might  be  stated 
that  the  watchword  of  aiming  is  care.  The  care 
required  will  be  taken  up  in  the  succeeding  chapters, 
but  at  this  point  it  might  be  well  to  state  that  the 
degree  of  care  is  as  much  as  if  your  rifle  were  loaded 
and  your  life  depended  upon  hitting.  Therefore 
you  do  not — 

Put  up  targets  promiscuously  and  casually  aim  at 
them  in  passing  and  call  it  a  sighting  and  aiming 
drill.  You  may  do  that  kind  of  manipulation  drill 
but  do  not  call  it  aiming. 

Manipulation  drills  are  prescribed  for  a  distinct 
purpose.  They  are  to. train  the  muscles  and  the  nerve 
centers  in  the  operation  of  the  rifle.  During  these 


48 

drills,  soldiers  should  be  made  to  distinctly  under- 
stand that  they  are  not  aiming  drills  and  that  he 
only  simulates  aiming  by  taking  the  position.  The 
lifting  of  the  bolt  handle  is  the  hard  part  of  manipu- 
lating the  1903  rifle. 

These  drills  should  be  conducted  in  all  the  positions 
both  with  and  without  the  sling.  The  proficiency 
test  should  be  made  in  the  prone  position  and  with 
the  sling,  because  it  is  hardest  to  learn.  These  drills 
should  be  conducted  first  with  the  trigger  tied  back. 
The  purpose  is  to  secure  rapid  manipulation  of  the 
bolt.  This  drill  does  not  meet  all  the  requirements 
in  bolt  manipulation  because  the  trigger  is  not 
squeezed.  However,  as  this  practice  is  for  the  pur- 
pose of  attaining  the  highest  speed  it  will  be  found 
that  a  trigger  squeeze  will  degenerate  into  a  mere 
jerk  if  made  a  part  of  the  drill.  It  is,  therefore,  best 
to  attain  this  high  speed  with  the  trigger  squeeze 
omitted  and  thus  avoid  the  development  of  a  bad 
habit  in  squeezing  the  trigger. 

These  drills  should  be : 

1.  Standing. 

2.  Kneeling. 

3.  Sitting. 

4.  Prone. 

The  positions  should  be  taken  by  the  regular  com- 
mands of  the  Infantry  Drill  Regulations  but  with  the 
latitude  allowed  in  the  firing  manual,  and  the  ma- 
nipulation should  be  conducted  by  the  following  com- 
mands : 

1.  -  -  times  manipulation.  2.  Exercise.  The 
soldier  being  in  position  manipulates  the  bolt  as 
rapidly  as  possible  the  number  of  times  designated. 
Five  times  are  enough  for  the  start. 


49 

1.  At  will.  Manipulation.  2.  Exercise.  3.  Halt. 
The  soldier  being  in  position  manipulates  the  bolt  as 
rapidly  as  possible  until  the  command  halt  and  with- 
out squeezing  the  trigger.  In  the  beginning  this  will 
be  done  slowly  and  the  speed  increased  as  the  muscular 
control  increases. 

1.  Twenty  times,  Manipulation.  2.  Exercise.  The 
soldier  manipulates  the  bolt  as  rapidly  as  possible 
the  required  number  of  times.  The  same  caution  is 
observed  as  to  beginning. 

These  exercises  should  be  repeated  until  the  ma- 
nipulation of  the  bolt  in  this  manner  becomes  easy 
and  until  the  soldier  has  attained  the  speed  of  20 
times  in  15  seconds  in  the  prone  position  and  in  the 
sling. 

CHAPTER  5. 
(A)   SIGHT  ALIGNMENT. 

The  question  of  aiming  will  be  further  discussed  in 
parts  7  and  8.  The  comparison  of  the  sights  on  the 
Model  1903  and  1917  has  been  fully  considered  in  No. 
1.  It  is  only  intended  here  to  take  up  the  proper 
method  of  sight  alignment. 

The  open  sight. — The  normal  sight  alignment  is 
shown  by  Fig.  1,  Plate  III.,  page  30,  S.  A.  F.  M.  The 
front  sight  is  centered  laterally  in  the  notch  of  the 
rear  sight,  and  the  top  is  level  with  the  top  of  the 
notch.  It  will  also  be  noticed  that  the  aiming  point  is 
at  6  o'clock  below  the  bull's-eye  and  on  the  white. 
The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  eye  can  see  a  black 
sight  better  on  a  white  background.  If  the  front  sight 
is  permitted  to  touch  the  bull's-eye,  it  is  impossible  to 
130339° — 19 4 


50 

tell  at  what  part  it  will  be  aiming  and  accuracy  of 
aiming  point  is  lost.  The  line  of  white  should  be  the 
same  for  each  shot.  It  should  be  wide  enough  to  see 
the  bottom  edge  of  the  bull  sharp  and  distinct.  There 
is  no  advantage  in  crowding  close  to  the  bull.  It 
tends  to  blur,  strains  the  eye,  and  reduces  accuracy 
with  many  men  in  some  lights.  At  1,000  yards  the 
white  line  must  be  about  6  inches  wide  to  be  seen. 
There  is  only  18  inches  of  white  below  the  bull's-eye, 
and  when  the  sight  appears  upon  the  white  it  will 
be  6  inches  below  the  bull  and  6  inches  above  the 
bottom  at  least.  This  only  leaves  6  inches  to  wan- 
der over,  and  that  is  closer  than  any  man  can  hold. 
Therefore  the  best  method  at  this  distance  is  simply 
to  make  sure  that  you  are  on  the  white  at  6  o'clock. 
The  peep  sight. — Fig.  2  of  the  same  plate  shows  the 
normal  peep  sight  alignment.  The  top  of  the  front 
sight  is  brought  to  the  center  of  the  peep  and  there 
is  the  same  rule  with  reference  to  aiming  point  on 
the  white. 

OTHER  METHODS  OF  AIMING. 

The  Navy  method  of  aiming  is  described  in  section 
88  in  the  Navy  Small-Arms  Firing  Regulations,  as 
follows : 

"  In  aiming  the  eye  should  be  held  as  close  as  possi- 
ble to  the  peep ;  that  is,  almost  up  to  the  comb  of  the 
firing  pin.  Then  aim  so  that  the  bull's-eye  is  exactly 
in  the  center  of  the  peephole  and  the  top  of  the  front 
sight  in  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye." 

In  an  ordinary  light  and  upon  a  bull's-eye  target 
this  method  of  aiming  is  perhaps  as  accurate  as  the 
6  o'clock  hold  of  the  Small-Arms  Firing  Manual.  It 
will  be  found,  however,  that  the  top  of  the  front  sight 


51 


is  held  at  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye  rather  by  keep- 
ing it  in  the  center  of  the  peep  than  by  actually  seeing 
it  at  the  aiming  point  or  center  of  the  bull's-eye. 
With  a  black  sight  and  a  black  bull's-eye  and 
especially  at  long  ranges  it  is  impossible  to  dis- 
tinguish at  what  part  of  the  bull's-eye  the  top  of  the 
front  sight  is  pointing.  But  if  the  top  of  the  front 
sight  is  at  the  center  of  the  peep  and  the  bull's-eye 
then  also  brought  to  the  center  of  the  peep  as  a  matter 
of  course,  the  top  of  the  front  sight  will  be  pointing 
at  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye  without  regard  to 
whether  the  eye  sees  the  center  or  not.  As  it  is  easy 
to  center  a  round  bull's-eye  in  the  peep,  this  method 
of  aiming  at  targets  is  quite  satisfactory.  If  the  tar- 
get is  a  moving  object  or  figure  of  a  man,  the  center- 
ing in  the  peep  is  much  more  difficult  if  not  impossible. 
Also  with  the  battle  sight,  the  principle  of  the  aiming 
point  must  be  followed.  In  battle  fire  the  top  of  the 
front  sight  will  also  be  aligned  on  some  aiming 
point.  For  these  reasons  the  Small- Arms  Firing  Man- 
ual selects  the  aiming  point  at  6  o'clock  on  the  white, 
where  it  can  best  be  seen,  and  then  directs  that  the 
top  of  the  front  sight  be  aligned  with  it.  The  Navy 
method  aligns  the  top  of  the  front  sight  with  the 
point  where  the  hit  is  desired.  This  is  the  correct 
idea  for  battle  fire,  but  in  target  shooting  the  align- 
ment is  theoretical  rather  than  actually  seen.  The 
Army  method  actually  sees  the  aiming  point,  but  it  is 
indirect,  being  below  the  hitting  point.  With  the 
battle  sight  at  short  ranges  this  is  necessary  in  all 
kinds  of  fire.  Therefore,  the  Army  training  is  uni- 
form for  both  sights,  and  as  the  tendency  in  battle  is 
to  shoot  high  the  training  should  be  to  aim  low. 
This  does  not  apply  to  well-trained  riflemen.  They 


52 

set  their  sights  and  shoot  to  hit.  If  the  aiming  point 
is  low,  they  take  more  elevation.  They  learn  how  to 
set  sights  for  an  indirect  aiming  point  when  necessary. 

(B)    THE  EYES  AND  RIFLE  SHOOTING. 

The  human  element  is  the  greatest  element  in  rifle 
training  and  the  vision  is  perhaps  the  greatest  ele- 
ment in  the  human.  It  is  also  the  least  understood. 
Rifles  are  made,  zeroed  and  issued  without  any  ad- 
justment for  individual  eyes.  Rules  for  light  and 
mirage  are  made  and  published  as  if  the  eyes  of  men 
could  not  vary.  In  fact,  the  eyes  of  men  have  an 
individuality  almost  as  universal  as  individuals  them- 
selves. They  may  stand  the  same  oculist  tests  and 
still  see  the  sights  differently.  The  reason  is,  the 
eyes  must  be  operated  by  that  wonderful  and  un- 
fathomable thing,  the  human  mind.  Therefore — 

The  question  of  zero  windage  is  always  an  indi- 
vidual question. 

The  question  of  normal  elevations  is  always  an 
individual  question. 

Each  man  must  find  his  zero  and  normals  for  him- 
self. 

The  instructor  might  find  them  and  he  might  not. 

He  has  no  business  to  try. 

It  is  his  business  to  teach  the  recruit  how  to  find 
them  for  himself. 

This  can  only  be  done  by  actual  shooting. 

The  effect  of  light  is  likewise  individual  and  must 
be  determined  by  actual  shooting  and  careful  records. 

It  is  all  right  to  read  what  the  books  say,  but  then 
go  out  and  find  if  it  is  true  for  the  individual  in 
question. 


53 

No  amount  of  training  can  remove  the  individuality 
and  differences  in  eyes. 

On  December  7,  1917,  the  following  experiment  was 
conducted  at  the  Winchester  plant.  Four  1917  rifles 
were  taken  from  stock  to  the  200-yard  indoor  range. 
Two  experts  were  selected  to  do  the  shooting.  Both 
had  been  shooting  on  this  same  range  for  more  than 
10  years.  Both  were  perhaps  as  expert  as  human 
beings  can  become.  The  problem  was  to  find  the  dis- 
tance of  impact  above  the  point  of  aim  with  the 
battle  sight  at  200  yards. 

Both  men  sat  in  the  same  testing  jchair.  Both 
fired  the  same  ammunition.  Both  sighted  the  rifles 
the  same.  Both  had  the  same  light.  Both  used  the 
same  elbow  rest  on  a  testing  table.  Both  fired  the 
same  rifles.  Both  fired  10  shots  with  each  rifle.  Here 
is  the  result: 

Average    distance    of    hits    afiove    aiming   point,    in 
inches. 

FIRST    MAN. 

First  rifle 
Second   rifle 

Third    rifle 21 

Fourth    rifle 4 


Average 1411 

SECOND    MAN. 

First  rifle 12 

Second    rifle '. 10% 

Third    rifle 12% 

Fourth    rifle —3 

Average 8% 


54 

Disregarding  an  inconsequential  fraction,  one  of 
these  men  hit  an  average  of  14it  inches  above  his 
aiming  point  and  the  other  only  8%  inches.  It  was 
also  observed  that  the  group  of  the  first  man  was 
about  4  inches  to  the  left  of  the  second  man,  but 
this  was  estimated  and  not  measured.  It  is,  there- 
fore, certain  that  these  two  experts  could  not  look 
through  the  sights  of  the  rifle  the  same  even  at  the 
short  distance  of  200  yards.  One  of  them  actu- 
ally sighted  these  rifles  an  average  of  611  inches 
higher  and  about  4  inches  farther  to  the  left  than 
the  other.  Both  groups  \vere  excellent.  There  was 
no  difference  in  the  expertness  of  the  two  men. 

The  difference  was  in  the  eyes.  The  eyes  of  both 
were  very  accurate,  but  different.  More  than  10  years 
of  training  had  not  removed  this  difference.  The  dif- 
ference in  eyes  c#n  not  be  removed.  Each  man  must 
sight  his  rifle  with  his  own  eyes.  Each  man  must 
learn  his  elevations  at  each  distance  with  his  own 
eyes. 

Each  man  must  learn  his  zero  windage  with  his 
own  eyes. 

A  rifle  zeroed  at  the  factory  may  be  all  right  for 
the  man  who  did  it. 

It  may  be  a  half  a  point  off  either  right  or  left 
for  the  man  who  shoots  it. 

The  1917  rifle  has  a  sight  adjustment  for  zero  in 
the  front  sight.  The  1903  has  none. 

If  the  shooter's  eyes  find  a  1903  rifle  off  for  zero, 
he  must  remember  how  much  and  correct  for  wind 
accordingly. 

He  can  correct  his  zero  on  the  1917  by  moving  the 
front  sight;  but,  having  no  wind  gauge,  he  must  hold 
for  wind. 


55 

The  proper  place  for  zero  adjustment  is  at  the  rear 
sight  and  it  is  hoped  soon  to  have  such  an  adjustment 
on  both  rifles.  In  this  connection  it  must  also  be 
remembered  that  the  same  man  may  get  a  different 
elevation  and  also  a  different  zero  in  slow  and  rapid 
fire.  Experts  fight  hard  to  keep  the  elevations  the 
same  in  both  kinds  of  fire,  but  do  not  always  succeed. 
Perhaps  the  reason  is  that  the  same  amount  of  care 
is  impossible  in  rapid  fire  because  of  the  greater  speed, 
but  these  differences  do  occur  in  the  same  man. 

Even  a  telescope  sight  will  not  always  reconcile 
the  differences  between  the  eyes  of  individuals.  Each 
man  must  find  his  own  elevations  with  telescope 
sights. 

A  few  eye  drills  are  a  good  thing.  Drills  can  be 
invented  for  everything,  even  the  eyes.  For  instance, 
nearly  every  man  is  either  right-eyed  or  left-eyed. 
A  simple  experiment  will  tell.  Have  him  hold  his 
finger  15  or  20  inches  from  his  eyes.  Sight  over  the 
end  of  it  with  both  eyes  open  at  some  small  object 
15  or  20  feet  away.  Continue  this  sighting  until  both 
eyes  see  the  object  over  the  end  of  the  finger.  Shut 
first  one  eye  and  then  the  other  eye.  One  of  them  will 
hold  the  finger  in  a  straight  line  with  the  object.  The 
other  will  let  the  finger  move  to  one  side.  If  the  eye 
holds  the  straight  line  he  is  left-eyed.  In  other  words, 
the  left  eye  dominates.  In  a  test  of  about  4,000  men 
about  20  per  cent  were  found  to  be  left-eyed. 

Should  a  left-eyed  man  shoot  left-handed?  If  the 
right  eye  is  much  weaker,  yes.  If  the  right  eye  is 
only  slightly  weaker,  no.  Exercise  and  use  of  the 
right  eye  may  change  and  make  him  right-eyed.  It 
is  a  great  handicap  to  manipulate  the  rifle  left- 
handed. 


56 

Here  is  a  focus  drill.  Align  the  finger  again  with 
some  object  5  or  6  feet  distant,  and  with  either  one 
or  both  eyes  focus  on  the  finger.  The  finger  will 
appear  clear  and  distinct,  but  the  object  in  line  with 
it  will  appear  hazy  as  long  as  the  focus  is  on  the 
finger,  although  only  a  few  feet  distant.  Change  the 
focus  to  the  object  and  it  will  appear  clear  and  dis- 
tinct and  the  finger  will  become  hazy.  Jump  the 
focus  from  one  to  the  other  and  learn  what  focusing 
the  eye  means. 

Here  is  a  centering  peep  drill.  Look  through  the 
peep  above  the  sky  line  with  the  eye  4  or  5  inches 
from  the  peep.  Study  the  light  in  the  peep,  and  you 
will  find  it  has  a  bright  center.  Some  say  that  the 
eye  automatically  centers  the  peep.  It  certainly  does 
like  the  bright  center  best,  and  has  a  natural  tendency 
to  find  it.  However,  the  bright  center  gradually  dis- 
appears as  the  eye  is  brought  closer  to  the  peep,  and 
is  hardly  noticeable  when  very  close.  It  is  also 
affected  by  shadows,  and  after  all  the  center  of  the 
peep  is  accurately  found  only  by  looking  for  it  care- 
fully. 

The  light  rules  are  usually  stated  as  follows : 

Light  has  no  effect  on  the  bullet,  but  does  affect 
the  eye. 

The  effect  is  the  opposite  for  open  and  peep  sights. 

With  the  peep,  a  bright  light  makes  the  target  more 
distinct  and  the  hold  is  closer  to  the  bull's-eye — hence 
the  hit  is  higher. 

The  opposite  is  true  of  a  dull  day. 

But  these  rules  do  not  apply  to  all  eyes.  Some  eyes 
see  a  target  much  more  distinctly  on  a  dull  day,  and 
the  rules  are  reversed. 


57 

On  a  bright  day  with  the  open  sight  the  rule  still 
is  to  see  the  target  more  distinctly,  and  the  tendency, 
therefore,  is  to  hold  higher ;  but  in  spite  of  this,  the 
hit  is  lower  with  the  open  sight  than  on  a  dull  day. 
Why  this  apparent  contradiction?  The  lower  hold  is 
more  than  offset  by  another  element.  The  other  ele- 
ment is  the  front  sight.  It  is  not  seen  so  distinctly  on 
the  dull  day,  hence  it  is  raised  higher.  It  looks  the 
same  to  the  eye,  but  the  dull  light  actually  causes  it 
to  stand  up  higher  to  produce  the  same  effect  on  the 
eye.  It  is  enough  higher  to  overcome  the  lower  hold 
on  the  target,  and  the  hit  is  actually  higher  on  the 
dull  day  with  the  open  sight. 

Again  the  rule  is  upset  by  many  eyes  which  see 
everything — even  sight,  target,  and  all — more  dis- 
tinctly on  the  dull  day.  Every  man  must  study  his 
own  eyes  and  find  out  whether  he  sees  things  better 
in  a  bright  or  dull  light  and  how  his  hits  are  effected. 

The  change  of  light  is  likely  to  cause  a  greater  error 
with  the  open  than  with  the  peep  sight. 

The  direction  of  the  light  and  shadow  also  affects 
the  seeing.  If  the  light  is  on  the  right  side  of  the 
front  sight  and  the  eye  sees  this  side  better  than  the 
shaded  side,  the  tendency  will  be  to  hold  the  right  side 
directly  under  the  bull's-eye,  and  that  will  give  a  hit 
to  the  left. 

But  again,  some  eyes  might  see  the  shaded  side  of 
the  front  sight  more  distinctly  and  get  the  opposite 
result. 

Also  a  little  care  in  noticing  both  sides  of  the  front 
sight  might  avoid  the  error  altogether. 

Shadows  on  the  sights  have  caused  many  errors  in 
finding  the  windage  zero.  In  the  forenoon  the  zero 


58 

would  be  found  a  half  of  a  point  right  and  in  the 
afternoon  as  much  to  the  left.  In  fact,  there  was  no 
change  at  all.  In  the  morning  the  sun  was  on  the 
right  side  of  the  sight  and  in  the  afternoon  it  was 
on  the  left.  The  shooter  followed  the  tendency  to  use 
the  bright  side  of  his  sight  only.  In  the  morning  he 
put  the  right  side  of  his  front  sight  at  6  o'clock 
under  the  bull's-eye  and  in  the  afternoon  he  put  the 
left  side  of  the  front  sight  in  the  same  place.  This 
shifted  his  zero  about  equal  to  the  width  of  the  front 
sight. 

A  knowledge  of  these  facts  and  a  little  drill  may 
correct  the  errors. 

Try  an  aiming  drill.  Point  the  right  side  of  the 
front  sight  at  6  o'clock.  Then  point  the  left  side  at 
the  same  place.  Note  the  difference  in  the  position 
of  the  whole  sight  with  reference  to  the  bull's-eye. 
This  can  be  done  even  if  the  sun  is  on  one  side  and 
the  other  shaded.  Some  eyes  will  actually  see  the 
shaded  side  better,  but  almost  any  eye  can  see  both 
sides  if  the  attempt  is  made  to  do  so. 

The  same  kind  of  a  drill,  sighting  from  the  center 
and  sides  of  a  peep,  will  also  master  the  effect  of 
shadows  in  the  peep. 

These  are  little  things  to  do,  but  the  doing  of  little 
things  well  is  what  wins  championships. 

OTHER  CAUSES  OF  INDIVIDUALITY. 

Some  claim  that  differences  in  eyes  are  not  the 
causes  of  individual  difference.  A  different  pressure 
on  the  rifle  in  the  hold,  a  different  rest,  a  different 
pressure  in  freezing  the  face  to  the  stock,  and  a  differ- 
ent trigger  squeeze  may  get  different  hits  even  if 


59 

the  sight  alignments  were  the  same.  All  of  these 
things  are  true  but  they  do  not  disprove  the  differ- 
ences in  human  eyes,  or  rather  the  differences  in 
mental  pictures  made  by  human  eyes,  which  also  get 
different  hits. 

A  careful  test  of  experts  in  sighting  triangles  shows 
that  they  will  not  place  the  triangles  at  the  same  point 
even  at  100-yard  distances.  Variations  in  the  placing 
of  the  triangles  of  1^  inches  were  found  at  100  yards 
with  the  small  peep  sight  of  the  1903  rifle  and  a  vari- 
ation of  several  inches  was  found  with  the  larger 
peep  sight  of  the  1917  rifle.  In  these  sighting  tests 
all  of  the  elements  were  removed  except  the  element 
of  the  eyes,  and  the  most  expert  eyes  did  not  *'  look 
the  sights"  the  same.  They  made  small  triangles  in 
each  instance  but  placed  them  with  enough  variations 
to  miss  the  target  entirely  at  1,000  yards.  It  is 
easy  to  make  a  sighting  triangle  test  of  these  con- 
clusions. Place  a  rifle  in  a  rest  and  let  three  men 
sight  triangles  on  the  same  paper  at  100  yards  with- 
out moving  the  rifle  or  the  paper.  Their  triangles 
may  be  very  small  and  accurate,  but  still  several 
inches  apart.  A  few  men  will  place  them  nearly  the 
same,  but  it  will  not  take  many  tests  to  find  men  who 
place  them  differently.  They  will  point  the  rifle  with 
just  the  same  difference  when  firing. 

If  spectacles  are  used  care  must  be  taken  that  they 
are  adjusted  at  the  same  relative  angle  to  the  eye. 
If  they  are  removed  and  not  replaced  in  exactly  the 
same  position  a  change  in  placing  the  triangle  may 
result,  and  there  would  be  a  like  change  in  the  hits 
in  shooting. 


60 

SHOOTING   WITH   BOTH   EYES   OPEN. 

Shooting  with  both  eyes  open  is  one  of  the  new 
ways  often  suggested,  as  a  royal  road  to  champion- 
ship. 

It  has  some  advantages  for  the  man  who  has  care- 
fully learned  it. 

It  has  some  perplexing  disadvantages  to  the  begin- 
ner. Therefore — 

Don't  try  new  ways  on  the  recruit. 

Don't  puzzle  him  with  the  refinements. 

Don't  exceed  the  ten  commandments. 

However — 

After  he  has  learned  to  hold, 

After  he  has  learned  the  positions, 

After  he  has  learned  the  sling  adjustment, 

After  he  has  learned  the  stock  freezing, 

After  he  has  learned  the  trigger  squeeze, 

After  he  has  learned  the  sight  alinenients, 

After  he  has  learned  to  call  his  shot, 

After  he  has  had  enough  practice  to  "settle"  into 
his  rifle — 

Then  you  can  teach  him  to  shoot  with  both  eyes 
open  if  you  have  the  time. 

It  may  confuse  him  at  first. 

It  will  help  a  little  if  he  learns  it. 

Alone,  it  will  not  make  a  good  shot  out  of  a  poor 
shot. 

Alone,  it  will  not  make  a  champion  out  of  a  good 
shot. 

Alone,  no  single  refinement  will  produce  these  re- 
sults. 

The  champion  takes  great  care  to  learn  everything 
that  will  help. 


61 


The  champion,  with  persistent  work,  learns  to  use 
everything  that  will  help. 

Any  man  who  learns  to  shoot  well,  invites  care, 
persistence,  and  work,  and  then  more  care,  more  per- 
sistence, and  more  work. 

The  first  advantage  of  shooting  with  both  eyes  open 
is  a  certain  relief  from  eyestrain. 

The  second  advantage  is  a  little  help  in  finding  the 
target. 

The  shooting  is  really  done  by  the  eye  that  looks 
through  the  sights. 

When  one  eye  is  closed  the  pupil  expands  as  every 
eye  expands  in  the  dark.  When  it  is  opened  there  is 
a  difference  in  the  two  eyes  and  the  readjustment 
causes  a  certain  strain.  If  both  eyes  are  kept  open  all 
the  time  this  strain  is  avoided.  Anything  that  will 
avoid  eyestrain  is  valuable. 

The  best  way  to  teach  the  use  of  both  eyes  is  to 
start  with  an  ordinary  telescope.  After  a  man  can 
look  through  the  telescope  with  one  eye  and  keep  the 
other  eye  open  at  the  same  time  without  confusion 
of  vision,  he  is  ready  to  do  the  same  thing  through 
the  sights  of  his  rifle.  A  little  practice  will  make  it 
easy  for  him  and  he  then  gains  all  the  advantages  of 
using  both  eyes  open  in  shooting. 

(C)   SIGHTING  DEVICES. 

a.  Sighting  "bar. 

This  device  is  used  to  give  the  soldier  a  correct  idea 
of  sight  alignment.  As  soon  as  he  has  learned  from 
it  the  correct  centering  of  the  top  of  the  front  sight 
in  the  peep,  and  alignment  of  the  two  sights  with  the 
aiming  point,  this  device  has  no  further  use. 
I).  Aiming  devices. 


62 

The  Belgian  aiming  device  and  the  Ordnance  aim- 
ing device  are  devices  to  assist  the  instructor  in  de- 
tecting errors  in  sight  alignment.  They  do  assist 
in  this  when  the  error  is  great  and  the  recruit  has 
no  correct  idea  of  the  sight  alignment.  But  they 
should  never  be  used  for  correction  in  accuracy.  In 
a  general  way  they  will  disclose  the  error  of  the  re- 
cruit when  he  is  not  properly  centering  the  peep. 
Because  of  the  wide  difference  in  eyes,  however,,  the 
best  experts  do  not  center  the  front  sight  in  the  peep 
in  the  same  way  and  can  not  be  trained  to  do  so. 
Their  mental  picture  is  different.  These  devices 
should  not  be  used  as  a  test  for  accuracy.  With  the 
majority  of  men  proper  sight  alignment  can  be  made 
without  their  use,  but  sometimes  they  detect  an  error 
and  in  such  cases  are  quite  valuable. 

(D)    SIGHTING    TRIANGLES. 

1.  Sighting  triangles  is  a  very  valuable  preliminary 
drill  in  aiming.    They  should  be  sighted  at  a  distance 
of  at  least  100  yards  and  the  practice  should  be  con- 
tinued until   the  triangle  will  be  covered  by   a  25- 
cent  piece. 

2.  In  sighting  triangles  a  movable  bull's-eye  should 
be  placed  so  the  front  sight  is  at  6  o'clock,  but  after 
the  required  accuracy   has  been  attained  with  this 
aiming  point  triangles  should  be  sighted  "holding  off." 
Let  the  recruit  take  an  aiming  point  12  inches  to  the 
right  or  to  the  left  of  the  6  o'clock  aiming  point  and 
attempt  to  sight  his  triangles  from  this  new  aiming 
point.     It  will  be  found  much  more  difficult,  and  it 
will  illustrate  plainly  his  greater  error  in  aiming  when 
he  must  hold  off  for  wind.     The  practice  should  be 
continued  until  the  triangles   so   made  approximate 


63 

those  made  with  the  6  o'clock  aiming  point.     This 
applies  to  the  1917  rifle. 

3.  By  following  the  direction  of  the  Small  Arms 
Firing  Manual  in  sighting  triangles  in  a  bright  light, 
then  with  the  target  shaded,  then  with  the  rifle 
shaded,  then  with  both  shaded,  and  keeping  a  careful 
record  of  the  results,  each  recruit  can  acquire  valuable 
knowledge  as  to  the  effect  of  light  upon  his  aiming. 
He  should  also  sight  triangles  in  the  forenoon  when 
the  light  is  on  the  right  side  of  the  sight,  and  then 
leaving  the  paper  in  place,  and  the  rifle  in  its  rest, 
again  sight  them  in  the  afternoon  upon  the  same 
paper  with  the  light  on  the  left  side  of  the  sight. 
This  situation  assumes  the  sighting  direction  to  the 
north,  and  there  is  no  better  sighting  drill.  It  will  be 
found  that  many  men  see  the  bright  side  of  the  sight 
more  clearly  and  place  that  side  upon  the  aiming 
point.  If  this  is  done  in  the  forenoon  the  right  side 
of  the  sight  will  point  at  the  center  of  the  aiming 
point.  If  the  same  thing  is  done  in  the  afternoon, 
the  left  side  of  the  sight  will  be  pointed  at  the  same 
aiming  point  center.  This  makes  a  variation  of  the 
full  width  of  the  front  sight  and  is  the  cause  of 
many  so-called  changing  zeros.  In  fact,  the  zeros  have 
not  changed,  it  is  only  the  different  way  of  looking 
at  the  sight  because  of  the  different  light  upon  it. 
It  is  the  best  possible  drill,  to  teach  men  to  look  at 
both  sides  of  their  sight  and  to  place  the  aiming  point 
center  between  them.  These  light  drills  in  sighting 
triangles  will  also  develop  the  difference  in  eyes. 
Some  will  place  the  triangles  lower  in  a  bright  light ; 
others  will  place  them  higher,  and  with  still  others 
there  will  be  no  material  difference.  Whatever  the 
result,  each  man  can  learn  by  these  methods  the  effect 


64 

of  light  upon  his  own  eyes,  and  that  is  the  im- 
portant thing.  It  must  be  noted  in  this  connection 
that,  if  the  triangles  are  placed  higher  in  a  dark  light, 
then  the  hits  will  be  lower  in  a  dark  light,  and  of 
course  the  opposite  is  true  if  the  triangles  are  placed 
lower. 

4.  One  other  experiment  should  be  conducted  in 
sighting  triangles.  Several  of  the  best  men  who  have 
sighted  the  smallest  triangles  should  be  selected  for 
this  purpose.  The  more  expert  riflemen  they  may  be, 
the  better  the  illustration.  Place  a  sheet  of  paper  for 
the  triangle  target  and  rest  the  rifle  with  the  sights 
aligned  upon  it  and  firmly  fixed  in  place,  Without 
moving  either  the  paper  or  rifle,  let  the  first  man  sight 
two  triangles  very  carefully.  If  he  is  expert  and 
sights  carefully,  the  two  triangles  will  be  interwoven 
together.  In  other  words  they  will  be  placed  near 
the  same  spot.  Let  the  next  man  do  the  same  thing 
upon  the  same  paper  and  with  the  same  rifle  and 
without  either  paper  or  rifle  being  moved.  Sometimes 
his  triangles  will  be  interwoven  with  the  first  and 
sometimes  his  eyes  may  be  so  different  that  they  will 
be  around  a  point  several  inches  away  even  at  100 
yards  distance.  His  triangles  may  be  just  as  small 
and  just  as  accurate  as  the  first  man  but  he  will  look 
through  the  sights  differently  and  get  a  different  re- 
sult. With  the  1917  rifle  tests  have  shown  a  differ- 
ence of  5^  inches  in  elevation  and  3£  inches  in  lateral 
deflection  at  100  yards,  and  by  the  most  expert  rifle- 
men. After  several  men  have  sighted  triangle's  on  the 
same  paper  in  this  way,  select  the  one  who  placed  his 
triangles  lowest,  the  one  who  placed  his  triangles 
highest,  and  the  one  who  placed  his  triangles  farthest 
either  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  of  either  one,  or 


65 

both  of  these  two.  Get  another  piece  of  paper  and 
have  these  three  men  sight  triangles  upon  it  again 
and  it  will  be  found  that  they  constantly  maintain 
the  same  relative  difference  in  the  same  light.  A 
change  of  light  might  remove  or  modify  their  differ- 
ences. It  is  this  sighting  exercise  which  proves  be- 
yond question  that  each  man  must  find  the  normal 
elevation  and  the  zero  windage  of  his  own  rifle.  There 
can  be  no  success  in  rifle  training  without  a  knowledge 
of  this  fact.  It  will  be  impossible  to  do  all  of  these 
things  with  large  numbers  of  troops,  but  they  are  a 
necessary  part  of  the  training  of  all  instructors  if 
error  is  to  be  avoided. 

(E)   SIGHT  ADJUSTMENTS. 

A  careful  study  of  the  mechanical  sight  adjustment 
should  be  made.  Commands  should  be  given  for 
sight  setting  at  all  ranges,  also  for  windage.  Sights 
should  be  set  by  the  soldier  and  inspected  by  the 
instructor.  After  the  zero  of  the  rifle  is  determined, 
this  should  be  repeated,  using  the  corrected  zero. 

The  first  thing  a  rifleman  wants  to  do  is  to  "sight 
in"  his  rifle.  In  other  words  he  wants  to  find  its 
"  normal  elevations  "  and  "  zero  windage."  Most  rifles 
will  not  shoot  as  the  sights  read,  and  if  they  did  at 
6  o'clock  in  the  morning  they  would  not  at  1  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  The  usual  change  in  the  tempera- 
ture will  change  all  elevations.  A  warm  air  is  lighter. 
It  resists  a  bullet  less.  The  bullet  goes  faster,  does 
not  have  so  long  a  time  for  falling,  and  therefore  hits 
higher.  At  1,000  yards,  if  the  air  becomes  30°  warmer, 
the  bullet  will  hit  40  inches  higher,  which  is  almost 
equal  to  40  yards  raise  in  the  elevation  on  the  sight. 
130339° — 19 5 


66 

Likewise,  if  the  sights  were  made  correct  for  one  man, 
they  might  be  incorrect  for  the  next  man  who  "  looks 
the  sights  "  differently. 

Give  an  untrained  platoon  the  command  :  Range  500. 

Look  at  their  sights  and  they  will  all  be  adjusted 
at  the  graduation  for  500  yards. 

Shoot  the  rifles  and  they  will  hit  all  the  way  from 
400  yards  to  600  yards. 

Give  the  same  command  to  a  well-trained  platoon 
of  riflemen :  Range  500. 

Look  at  their  sights  and  you  will  find  them  set  all 
the  way  from  400  yards  to  600  yards. 

Shoot  the  rifles  and  they  will  all  hit  at  500  yards. 

This  result  assumes  that  both  platoons  held  the 
rifles  correctly. 

In  fact,  the  untrained  platoon  wrould  not  hold  good, 
and  its  scatteration  would  be  much  greater. 

Each  man  in  the  trained  platoon  had  learned  his 
normal  elevations  and  had  set  his  sight  as  his  par- 
ticular rifle  shoots  for  his  eyes  at  the  required  dis- 
tance. 

Again,  with  the  1903  rifle,  give  the  untrained  pla- 
toon the  command  :  Wind  two  points  right. 

Look  at  the  sights  and  each  wind  gauge  will  be  set  at 
two  points  right. 

Shoot  the  rifles  and  the  hits  will  disperse  right  and 
left  30  inches  more  than  the  errors  of  ammunition, 
rifles  and  man. 

Give  the  same  command  to  the  trained  platoon: 
Wind  two  points  right. 

Look  at  the  sights  and  they  will  be  set  for  windage 
all  the  way  from  li  points  right  to  2f  points  right. 


67 

Shoot  the  rifles  and  there  will  be  no  right  and  left 
dispersion,  except  the  errors  of  ammunition,  rifles,  and 
men. 

The  extreme  variation  for  elevation,  of  even  the 
best  made  rifles,  is  more  than  200  yards. 

The  extreme  variation  for  windage  is  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  point  each  way  or  a  total  of  !£  points. 

A  point  of  windage  is  equal  to  4  inches  on  the 
target  for  each  100  yards  distance  from  the  target. 
Therefore,  the  lateral  errors  caused  by  incorrect 
zeroes  at  500  yards  will  amount  to  30  inches. 

The  trained  rifleman  knows  how  to  find  this  error 
and  correct  for  it. 

The  untrained  man  shoots  and  misses. 

The  errors  of  zero  in  the  1917  rifle  can  be  cor- 
rected in  the  rifle  itself  by  a  lateral  adjustment  of 
the  front  sight.  This  is  an  improvement  over  any 
other  rifle  that  we  have  ever  had.  However,  this 
adjustment  can  only  be  made  by  trial  shooting.  If 
the  zero  is  wrong,  the  sight  is  moved.  Nobody  can 
tell  if  it  has  been  moved  the  proper  distance  except 
by  shooting  again.  If  the  adjustment  were  in  the 
rear  sight  it  could  be  set  as  soon  as  the  zero  is  found. 
Therefore  the  correct  place  for  the  zero  adjustment 
is  with  the  rear  sight.  Such  sights  are  now  proposed 
and  likely  to  be  adopted  for  both  rifles. 

There  is  no  wind  gauge  on  the  1917  rifle,  but  the 
question  of  zero  is  just  as  important. 

The  trained  rifleman  would  first  adjust  his  sights 
for  zero. 

For  one  point  at  500  yards  he  would  then  hold  20 
inches  right  or  left  as  the  case  might  demand. 


68 

The  untrained  man  would  also  hold  20  inches,  but, 
not  knowing  his  zero,  this  might  be  15  inches  too  much 
or  15  inches  too  little.  In  either  case  he  would  miss. 

How  do  you  find  normal  elevations  and  zero  wind- 
age? 

It  is  a  constant  problem  of  rifle  training. 

It  is  an  important  problem   of  rifle  training. 

Select  a  day  when  the  temperature  is  about  the 
average  of  what  you  expect  it  to  be  during  the  shoot- 
ing period. 

Select  a  still  time  or  what  is  called  zero  conditions. 

Shoot  the  rifle  at  each  distance  and  correct  for 
elevation  and  windage  until  the  group  is  around  the 
center  of  the  bull's-eye. 

Make  a  record  of  the  final  elevation,  sight  reading 
at  each  distance  or  of  the  micrometer  reading,  and 
the  results  are  the  normal  elevations. 

Also  make  a  record  of  the  windage  as  it  settled 
down  and  finally  stood  through  the  shooting  and 
that  is  the  zero. 

The  zero  should  be  practically  the  same  at  all 
distances  up  to  600  yards.  It  might  vary  slightly 
beyond  that. 

Make  a  record  of  temperature  and  all  weather  con- 
ditions. 

These  results  are  of  no  value  unless  all  of  the 
shots  were  fired  with  a  good  hold. 

As  soon  as  a  man  can  hold  good  he  is  ready  to 
shoot  for  elevations  and  zero. 

Having  begun  to  shoot  for  them  he  never  quits. 

All  his  shooting  is  a  constant  checking  with  eleva- 
tions and  zero. 


He  is  so  much  above  or  below  normal  elevations 
for  weather  conditions.  He  is  so  much  right  or  left 
of  zero  for  wind.  His  elevations  have  changed  be- 
cause of  the  wearing  of  the  rifle.  He  is  watching 
carefully  to  see  if  his  zero  has  changed  also.  He 
is  now  beginning  to  talk  the  language  of  a  real  rifle- 
man. 


CHAPTER  6. 
TRIGGER  SQUEEZE, 

Trigger  squeeze  is  a  squeeze, — not  a  pull  or  jerk. 
It  is  simple  but  important. 

Too.  much  emphasis  can  not  be  placed  on  the  im- 
portance of  trigger-squeeze  instruction,  and  it  should 
be  given  the  recruit  separate  from  the  manipulation 
drills  to  prevent  the  probability  of  his  acquiring  an 
incorrect  habit. 

Trigger-squeeze  practice  should  not  be  combined 
with  manipulation  drills  until  the  instructor  feels 
certain  that  the  recruit  understands  and  executes  the 
trigger  squeeze  properly. 

It  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  basic  points  that 
must  be  observed,  for  without  it  the  other  important 
points  to  be  learned  in  connection  with  successful 
shooting  will  do  little  good.  It  can  be  considered  as 
the  foundation,  or  one  of  the  things  to  be  mastered 
first  for  it  will  be  necessary  before  a  marksman  can 
get  the  full  benefit  of  the  other  points  of  his  training. 

"Taking  command  of  the  trigger"  is  not  considered 
a  part  of  the  "trigger  squeeze."  It  merely  means  ap- 


70 

plying  enough  pressure  to  squeeze  the  trigger  back 
until  its  heel  comes  in  contact  with  the  receiver. 

Following  this  the  pressure  is  applied  gradually, 
not  necessarily  so  very  slowly,  but  it  must  be  slow 
enough  to  be  a  steady  squeeze  and  applied  so  gradu- 
ally that  the  firer  will  not  know  when  the  sear  will 
be  released. 

A  steady  squeeze  such  as  just  described  can  be 
applied  with  ample  speed  for  rapid  fire  and  should 
always  be  used  in  such  fire. 

If  the  firer  does  not  put  his  mind  on  the  trigger 
squeeze  he  is  sure  to  know  when  the  explosion  is 
going  to  occur  and  there  will  be  an  involunt'ary  and 
uncontrollable  tendency  toward  a  flinch,  that  is  a 
muscular  movement  to  counteract  or  possibly  to  avoid 
the  recoil  of  the  rifle. 

All  such  movement  is  eliminated  when  the  mind 
sees  that  the  trigger  is  properly  squeezed,  and  to  get 
the  best  results  in  marksmanship  every  movement 
must  be  eliminated  during  aiming,  that  it  is  possible 
to  eliminate. 

To  attain  this  same  end  it  must  be  constantly 
borne  in  mind  that  the  pressure  must  be  put  on  the 
trigger  with  the  least  possible  muscular  movement. 
Do  not  increase  the  tension  on  the  other  fingers  or 
any  muscle  while  squeezing  the  trigger.  Do  the 
squeezing  with  only  one  finger.  The  index  finger  is 
preferable  because  it  is  the  most  sensitive  and  is 
much  the  handiest  in  position  and  in  bolt  manipula- 
tion, but  some  successful  riflemen  use  the  second 
finger.  The  choice  of  the  first  or  second  joint  of  the 
finger  for  squeezing  the  trigger  is  entirely  an  indi- 
vidual problem  with  each  rifleman.  It  depends  prin- 


cipally  on  the  length  of  his  fingers  and  partially  upon 
the  position  of  his  right  hand. 

When  squeezing  the  trigger  correctly  the  firer  will 
not  know  exactly  when  the  explosion  is  going  to  occur, 
and  when  he  has  reached  that  stage  he  will  be  cured 
of  one  very  serious  trouble,  and  that  is  flinching,  for 
if  he  does  not  know  when  the  rifle  or  pistol  is  going 
off  he  will  not  know  when  to  flinch. 

The  squeeze  should  be  stopped  when  anything 
causes  the  firer  to  doubt  the  correctness  of  his  hold, 
such  as  blurring  of  the  vision,  fatigue,  changing  wind 
or  light. 

First  be  sure  that  everything  is  as  you  want  it  to 
be,  then  be  absolutely  sure  to  squeeze  the  trigger  care- 
fully. 


CHAPTER  7. 
TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 

1.  Aiming  drills  are  just  as  important  as  shooting 
to  hit.  Any  aiming  drill  that  is  not  conducted  with 
the  same  care  as  shooting  to  hit  is  an  improper  drill. 
The  slightest  carelessness  in  an  aiming  drill  tends  to 
develop  bad  habits  of  carelessness  in  shooting.  Such 
a  drill  is  a  positive  injury.  Every  part  of  an  aiming 
drill  is  important,  but  the  two  vital  things  are  sight 
alignment  and  trigger  squeeze.  It  was  because  of  this 
vital  importance  that  they  were  eliminated  from  the 
first  manipulation  drills.  The  aiming  drill  includes 
the  manipulation  drill,  but  adds  to  it  all  the  other 
things  that  must  be  done  in  accurate  shooting.  The 
aiming  drills  should  be  conducted  in  all  the  positions, 


72 

but  should  begin  in  the  prone  and  with  the  sling. 
Every  aiming  drill  should  be  conducted  with  the 
"Ten  Commandments  of  the  Firing  Point": 

1.  Position  45°. 

2.  Adjust  sling  high. 

3.  Hard  on  shoulder. 

4.  Freeze  face  to  stock. 

5.  Hold  breath. 

6.  Take  command  trigger. 

7.  Align  sights. 

8.  Last  focus  on  bull. 

9.  Final  squeeze. 
10.  Call  shot. 

These  catch  words  should  be  printed  on  paper  and 
pasted  on  a  small  piece  of  cloth  and  pinned  to  the 
sleeve  for  easy  reference  by  both  the  recruit  and  his 
instructor.  They  should  also  be  used  as  commands 
and  executed  as  commands  until  the  recruit  has  be- 
come familiar  with  every  element  of  the  aiming  drill. 
For  that  reason  an  analysis  of  each  commandment  is 
desired. 

1.  The  position — 45°  means  that  the  alignment  of 
the  body  is  45°  away  from  the  alignment  of  the 
rifle.  It  may  be  true  that  this  position  will  not  be 
used  in  battle  and  especially  in  the  trenches,  but  that 
is  no  reason  against  it  during  the  training  period, 
providing  it  is  the  best  position  in  which  to  learn 
the  rifle.  It  is  the  best  position  for  many  reasons. 
This  angle  gives  the  body  an  elastic  and  rolling  motion, 
from  the  recoil  of  the  rifle  and,  therefore,  prevents 
injury.  The  rifle  and  the  sling  fit  more  naturally  into 
the  man  in  this  position.  It  gives  the  firmest  and 
most  vital  hold.  Therefore  it  should  be  used  until 


73 

the  rifle  is  learned.  After  that  there  is  no  objection 
to  firing  in  any  sort  of  position  which  the  use  of  cover 
and  the  urgency  of  battle  may  demand. 

2.  Adjusting  the  sling  high  consists  in  moving  the 
loop  above  the  muscles  of  the  upper  arm  and  hold- 
ing it  there  with  the  keeper.     The  value  of  the  sling 
is  greatly  reduced  if  allowed  to  slip  down  below  the 
muscles   of  the  upper   arm.     At   this   command   the 
recruit  should  reach  across  with  his  right  hand  and 
push  the  sling  above  the  muscles  of  the  upper  arm 
and  tighten  it  with  the  keeper.     In  a  drill  he  should 
feel  the  sling  each  time  to  verify  this  position  even 
if  it  is  already  correctly  adjusted. 

3.  When  the  butt   of  the  stock   is  placed  on  the 
right    shoulder    it    should    rest    hard    against    the 
shoulder.    This  is  readily  accomplished  by  the  proper 
adjustment  of  the  sling.    If  the  sling  is  adjusted  the 
right  length  and  then  moved  above  the  muscles  of 
the  upper  arm,  the  butt  will  always  come  hard  against 
the  right  shoulder.     It  will  also  stay  in  place.     If 
the  sling  is  permitted  to  slip  down  near  the  .elbow  it 
will  no  longer  hold  the  butt  hard  against  the  shoulder 
and  it  also  permits  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle  to  drop 
toward  the  ground. 

4.  The  face  must  in  all  cases  be  frozen  to  the  stock. 
To  omit  this  is  to  fail  in  good  holding.     The  face 
should  be  frozen  in  such  a  position  that  the  eye  will 
see  the  top  of  the  front  sight  in  the  center  of  the 
peep.     This  position  gives  the  proper   alignment  of 
the  sights  with  the  eye  and  there  is  nothing  left  to 
do  but  to  move  the  whole  combination  of  sights  and 
eye  together  to  complete  the  sight   alignment  upon 
the  proper  aiming  point. 


74 

5.  The  breath  must  be  held  at  the  time  of  sight 
alignment  and  until  the  final  squeeze  of  the  trigger. 
It  is  impossible  to  do  accurate  shooting  unless  this  is 
done.     The  proper  method  is  to  take  a  long  breath, 
exhale  part  until  the  feeling  is  easy  and  then  hold 
the  breath  until  after  the  final  squeeze.     It  should 
be  done  habitually  on  the  first  trial. 

6.  The   double   squeeze  of   the   trigger   is   for   the 
purpose  of  giving  the  command  hold.    This  command 
is  taken  by  squeezing  the  trigger  back  until  the  stop 
occasioned  by  the  heel  bearing  engaging  the  receiver 
is   felt.     The   trigger  is  held   in   this   position  until 
the  sight  alignment  is  complete.     Squeezing  the  trig- 
ger back  and  holding  in  this  position  is  taking  com- 
mand of  it. 

7.  We  have  already  mentioned  a  part  of  the  sight 
alignment  when  the  face  is  frozen  to  the  stock.     By 
the    seventh    commandment   this    alignment   is    com- 
pleted by  putting  the  top  of  the  front  sight  on  the 
aiming  point  which  is  normally  at  6  o'clock  under  the 
bull's-eye  with  a  distinct  white  line. 

(a)  First  find  the  center  of  the  peep.  The  center 
is  clearly  marked  and  can  be  found  in  the  following 
manner:  Notice  whether  all  parts  of  the  rim  of  the 
peep  are  sharp  and  clearly  defined.  If  the  upper 
part  of  the  peep  is  sharp  and  the  lower  is  woolly, 
the  positon  of  the  eye  is  too  high,  and  this  applies 
to  the  same  condition  at  the  sides  of  the  peep.  When 
all  of  the  parts  of  the  rim  are  clear,  the  eye  is  in 
the  proper  alignment,  but  still  may  not  be  at  the 
correct  distance  from  the  peep.  By  moving  the  eye 
forward  or  backward  it  will  be  seen  that  the  appear- 
ance of  the  light  within  the  circle  changes.  There 


75 

is  a  dark  border  close  to  the  edge  of  the  peep  inclos- 
ing a  brighter  center,  and  when  the  eye  sees  this 
distinctly  it  is  in  the  proper  position. 

NOTE. — In  the  center  of  this  brighter  portion  a 
second  reversal  of  the  rays  of  light  takes  place.  In 
other  words,  there  is  another  dark  band  with  a  very 
bright  center.  This  is  the  exact  optical  center  of  the 
peep,  but  is  usually  not  visible  when  the  front  sight 
larger  bright  center.  The  1903  sight  is  so  far  from 
the  eye  that  the  bright  optical  center  is  not  seen. 

(&)  Next  pass  the  focus  forward  from  the  peep  to 
the  front  sight.  If  the  top  of  the  front  sight  is  clear 
and  sharp,  it  is  in  the  center  of  the  peep,  but  if  it  is 
the  least  bit  indistinct,  it  should  be  moved  up  or 
down,  or  from  one  side  to  the  other  until  it  clears  up. 
When  it  is  sharp  the  two  points,  namely,  the  center 
of  the  peep  and  the  top  of  the  front  sight,  are  in 
alignment. 

(c)  Next  transfer  the  focus  of  the  eye  to  the  point 
of  contact  between  the  top  of  the  front  sight  and  the 
bull's-eye.  The  lower  edge  of  the  bull's-eye  becomes 
sharp  in  its  turn  when  the  other  two  points  become 
relatively  less  clear,  because  of  the  impossibility  of 
focusing  the  eye  upon  more  than  one  point  at  a  time. 
In  this  position  the  seventh  commandment  is  fulfilled. 
The  sights  are  aligned. 

8.  In  aligning  the  sights  the  eye  will  not  focus  on 
both  sights  and  the  bull's-eye  at  one  time  because  each 
is  a  different  distance  from  the  eye.  The  eye  will 
only  focus  on  one  distance  at  one  time ;  therefore,  the 
sight  alignment  is  made  by  jumping  or  changing  the 
focus  of  the  eye  from  the  center  of  the  rear  sight  to 
the  top  of  the  front  sight,  and  thence  to  the  aiming 


TG 

point  at  6  o'clock  under  the  bull's-eye.  The  last  focus 
is  on  the  aiming  point  at  the  bull's-eye.  It  is  also 
true  that  when  this  last  focus  is  first  made  and  finds 
the  bull's-eye  in  the  proper  place,  or  finds  the  sights 
in  the  proper  alignment  with  the  bull's-eye,  then  is 
the  time  for  the  final  squeeze.  The  first  time  this  last 
focus  is  found  to  be  correct  is  the  best  time  for  the 
final  squeeze.  The  eye  is  strained  less  than  at  any 
other  time  and  it  will  see  better. 

9.  After  all  of  the  other  eight  commandments  have 
been  kept  and  the  last  focus  in  the  sight  alignment  upon 
the  bull's-eye  indicates  the  sight  alignment  to  be  cor- 
rect, then  is  the  time  for  the  final  squeeze.     This  is 
the  most  critical  moment  in  rifle  training.    This  final 
squeeze  should  be  directed  by  the  mind  promptly  and 
steadily  and  without  any  movement  of  the  rifle  or  any 
attention  to  the  explosion.     The  whole  business  of 
the  mind  at  this  critical  moment  is  to  note  the  sight 
alignment  and  direct  the  prompt  and  steady  squeeze. 

10.  If  the  mental  attention  was  upon  the  sight  align- 
ment and  if  the  final  squeeze  was  steady  and  without 
movement  of  the  piece,  then  the  firer  Is  able  to  call  his 
shot  or  hold.     If  the  sights  were  correctly  aligned 
with   the   aiming  point   at   the  time   of   squeeze,   he 
should  call  his  hold  good.     If  the  front  sight  rose 
higher  than  his  aiming  point,  he  should  call  it  high. 
If  the  front  sight  moved  to  the  right  of  his  aiming 
point  at  the  time  of  final  squeeze,  he  should  call  it 
to  the  right.     Practice  in  this  will  enable  him  in  a 
little  while  to  call  his  shots  quite  accurately,  and  this 
should  always  be  done  in  the  aiming  drills  and  in 
shooting.     To  neglect  calling  the  shot  or  hold,  is  to 
neglect  the  best  guide  for  improvement  in  rifle  firing. 


77 

CHAPTER  8. 

AIMING  DRILLS. 

The  "  ten  commandments  "  are  a  complete  analysis 
of  everything  to  do  in  a  slow-fire  aiming  drill  in  the 
prone  position  and  in  the  sling.  This  should  be  the 
first  aiming  drill.  Targets  should  be  provided  for 
the  purpose  and  the  ten  commandments  used  as  com- 
mands. This  insures  great  care  in  the  drill  and  all 
aiming  drills  are  useless  unless  great  care  is  used. 
They  are  worse  than  useless  when  carelessly  done 
because  they  develop  a  bad  habit  that  must  be  over- 
come later.  The  care  of  the  aiming  drill  must  be  of 
the  same  degree  as  the  care  of  shooting  to  hit. 

After  the  aiming  drill  in  the  prone  position  there 
should  be  slow-fire  aiming  drills  in  all  the  positions 
conducted  in  the  same  manner  and  with  the  same  care. 
Only  slight  modification  of  the  commands  is  necessary. 
For  instance,  the  first  can  be  reduced  to  the  word 
"  Position."  The  second  can  be  reduced  to  the  words 
"Adjust  sling."  The  others  will  apply  to  any  posi- 
tion. For  assuming  the  positions  the  commands  of 
the  infantry  drill  regulations  may  be  used  and  then 
follow  with  the  ten  commandments.  There  is  no  other 
preliminary  instruction  in  aiming  quite  so  reliable  as 
this. 


CHAPTER  9. 
RAPID  LOADING. 

There  is  not  much  to  be  said  under  this  subject. 
If  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  rapid  loading  is  nearly 
always  neglected  in  the  preliminary  training,  it  would 


78 

not  be  made  a  separate  subject.  Since  it  is  neglected 
and  is  very  important  in  rapid-fire  training  special 
attention  must  be  called  to  it.  Rapid  loading  should 
be  learned  by  practice  with  dummies.  The  dummies 
load  harder  than  the  regular  cartridges.  If  the  recruit 
will  practice  loading  with  dummies  until  he  can  load 
them  easily  and  quickly  he  has  mastered  rapid  load- 
ing. He  is  not  ready  for  rapid-fire  aiming  drills  until 
this  is  done. 

In  this  same  connection  note  the  chapter  on  func- 
tioning. 

Rapid  loading  should  be  practiced  in  all  the  rapid- 
fire  positions.  The  prone  is  the  most  difficult  to  learn. 
The  sling  should  be  lengthened  about  two  notches 
more  than  for  slow  fire.  This  is  true  for  the  rapid-fire 
aiming  drill,  the  rapid-loading  drill,  and  the  rapid 
fire  itself. 


CHAPTER  10. 

RAPID-FIRE  AIMING  DRILLS. 

Rapid-fire  aiming  drills  are  no  different  from  slow- 
fire  aiming  drills,  except  in  the  matter  of  speed.  They 
should  always  be  conducted  in  rapid-fire  time;  for 
instance,  ten  times  in  one  minute  or  in  one  minute  and 
ten  seconds,  as  the  case  may  be.  Everything  in  the 
ten  commandments  is  done  as  in  slow  fire,  except 
that  the  speed  required  makes  it  impossible  to  use  the 
commands.  The  same  things  will  be  done  but  without 
commands  except  the  regular  rapid-fire  commands. 
These  drills  will  be  done  in  all  the  rapid-fire  posi- 
tions, leaving  the  prone  to  the  last,  because  it  is 
hardest.  They  will  first  be  done  without  dummies, 
and  the  loading  will  be  simulated.  They  will  then  be 


79 

done  with  dummies  until  the  recruit  can  execute  them 
easily  and  carefully  within  the  time  limit.  He  will 
graduate  in  these  drills  by  learning  to  use  all  the  time 
so  that  his  aiming  will  be  more  careful.  Stay  within 
the  limit,  but  use  all  the  time. 

As  noted  under  rapid  loading,  the  sling  should  be 
lengthened  about  two  notches  more  for  this  drill  than 
for  the  slow-fire  drill,  and  the  same  is  true  for  rapid 
fire  itself.  The  speed  required  in  rapid  fire  demands 
a  freer  motion,  and  a  longer  adjustment  of  the  sling 
will  give  it.  (Test  X,  Small  Arms  Firing  Manual.) 

After  a  man  has  become  proficient  in  the  regular 
rapid  fire  aiming  drill  he  should  be  given  the  "  mad 
minute "  aiming  drill.  In  this  he  loads  with  dum- 
mies and  aims  and  squeezes  the  trigger  as  many 
times  as  possible  in  one  minute.  His  speed  must 
always  be  limited  by  the  care  required  for  good  aim- 
ing and  squeezing. 


CHAPTER  11. 
SIGHT  SETTING. 

1.  All  corrections  for  sight  setting,  both  for  eleva- 
tion and  windage,  are  estimated  in  the  vertical  plane. 
In  other  words,  the  estimate  is  made  on  the  face  of 
the  target  and  from  its  center.  It  should  also  be 
made  in  inches.  There  is  no  other  unit  so  convenient 
and  so  accurate  for  rifle  fire.  The  original  sight 
setting  for  the  first  shot  is  based  upon  the  distance 
from  the  target.  If  the  elevations  of  the  rifle  have 
not  been  determined  by  actual  shooting  the  sight  will 
be  set  at  its  normal  reading,  both  for  elevation  and 
zero  windage.  When  the  shot  is  fired,  if  the  hit  is 
too  high  the  rear  sight  will  be  lowered ;  if  the  hit 


80 

is  too  low  the  rear  sight  will  be  raised;  if  the  hit 
is  to  the  right  the  wind  gauge  will  be  moved  to  the 
left ;  and  that  is  true  whether  the  hit  be  high,  low  or 
at  the  right  elevation;  if  the  hit  is  to  the  left  the 
wind  gauge  will  be  moved  to  the  right.  Therefore,  the 
rifleman  must  know  how  much  in  inches  the  move- 
ment of  his  sight  up  or  down  will  raise  or  lower  the 
hit  on  the  target,  and  how  much  the  movement  of 
the  wind  gauge  to  the  right  or  left  will  also  move  the 
hit  on  the  target.  There  are  two  simple  rules,  easy 
to  remember  and  approximately  correct,  which  can  be 
used  for  this  purpose.  The  wind  gauge  of  the  1903 
rifle  is  so  constructed  that  each  point  of  wind  amounts 
to  moving  the  hit  approximately  4  inches  for  each 
100  yards  distance  from  the  target.  For  instance,  if 
a  hit  at  600  yards  is  24  inches  to  the  left  of  the  cen- 
ter of  the  bull's-eye,  a  movement  of  the  wind  gauge 
one  point  to  the  right  or  where  it  stood  when  the 
hit  was  made  will  take  the  next  shot  24  inches  to 
the  right  and  to  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye,  providing 
the  hold,  ammunition,  and  all  other  'conditions  were 
the  same.  There  will,  however,  always  be  such  vari- 
ation in  conditions  as  to  modify  the  results  of  these 
corrections.  The  finest  windage  correction  that  can 
ordinarily  be  used  is  one-fourth  point,  and  that  is 
1  inch  on  the  target  for  each  100  yards  distance.  The 
hit  on  the  target  is  moved  in  the  same  direction  as 
the  wind  gauge  is  moved,  and  the  wind  gauge  must  be 
moved  into  the  wind  in  order  to  offset  its  effect. 

The  second  rule  relates  to  elevations,  and  100  yards 
of  elevation  will  approximately  move  the  hit  on  the 
target  equal  to  the  square  of  the  distance  from  the 
target.  At  600  yards,  if  the  sight  is  raised  100  yards 
it  will  raise  the  hit  approximately  36  inches;  and 


81 


if  it  is  lowered  100  yards  the  hit  on  the  target  is 
lowered  approximately  the  same.  If  at  this  dis- 
tance a  hit  were  27  inches  below  the  center  of  the 
bull's-eye  the  rear  sight  should  be  raised  75  yards  in 
order  to  bring  the  next  hit  up  to  the  center  of  the 
bull's-eye  with  the  same  hold  and  other  conditions. 
This  is  true  without  reference  to  whether  the  hit  was 
to  the  right  or  left  of  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye.  In 
actual  firing  it  will  be  found  that  these  corrections 
vary  because  of  the  differences  in  holding  the  rifle 
and  in  other  conditions.  In  all  cases  it  must  be  noted 
that  the  corrections  for  elevation  and  for  windage  are 
independent  of  each  other.  If  the  hit  is  low  and  to 
the  left  it  is  necessary  to  raise  the  elevation  and  also 
to  move  the  wind  gauge  to  the  right.  The  following 
table  gives  the  more  accurate  theoretical  movement  of 
the  hit  on  the  target  for  a  change  of  100  yards  in  ele- 
vation up  to  1,000  yards ;  and  also  the  windage  move- 
ment of  the  hit  on  the  target : 


Range. 

Change  in 
elevation 
of  100  yards 
moves  hit 
on  target  — 

Change  in 
windage  1 
point 
moves  hit 
on  target— 

Yards. 
103 

Inches. 
2  88 

Inches. 
4  31 

200  

6  44 

8  62 

300 

11  08 

12  93 

400  

17  28 

17  24 

500 

24  72 

21  55 

600  

34  16 

25  86 

700 

46  68 

30  17 

800  

62  48 

34  48 

900 

79  04 

38  79 

1,000  

99  24 

43  11 

130339°— IS 


82 

When  a  micrometer  is  used  for  elevations  the  grad- 
uations usually  approximate  a  minute  of  angle.  The 
hit  on  the  target  is  moved  one  inch  for  each  100  yards 
distance  from  the  target  for  each  minute  of  change. 

2.  The    above    table    in    reference    to    windage    is 
modified  when  the  battle  sight  is  used.     The  wind 
gauge  is  operated  by  a  rotary  movement  of  the  rear 
sight  base,  and  the  distance  of  the  battle  sight  from 
the  pivot  is  about  one-third  less,  than  the  distance 
of  the  peep  sight.     Therefore  when  using  the  battle 
sight  it   is   necessary  to   add   about   one-third   more 
windage  than  indicated  by  the  above  table. 

3.  The   above    description    of   sight   corrections    is 
based  upon  the  presumption  that  the  rifleman  hits 
the  target.    As  a  usual  thing  if  he  sets  the  sight  for 
elevation   and   zero    windage   as    it   reads   and    then 
makes  an  allowance  for  the  wind  according  to  wind- 
age tables,  he  will  hit  the  target  providing  he  holds 
his   rifle   correctly.     In   all  cases  good   holding  is  a 
necessary   starting  point   for   sight   setting.     At   the 
shorter  distances  there  should  be  no  trouble  for  the 
good  holder  to  hit  the  target  the  first  shot  with  any 
rifle,  but  at  mid  and  long  range  he  will  sometimes 
miss   the  whole  target   because  of   the   variation   in 
rifles  or  because  of  bad  weather  conditions.     In  this 
case  the  question  of  sight   setting  is  more  difficult. 
If  he  misses  the  target  entirely  it  is  a  harder  problem 
to  know  what  to  do  with   the  sights.     If  the  wind 
conditions  are  strong  and  unsteady,  he  is  more  likely 
to  miss  to  the  right  or  left.     In  that  event  the  first 
corrections  should  be  with   the  wind   gauge.     If  he 
is  unable  to  tell  whether  his  hit  went  to  the  right  or 
left,  then  he  should  move  the  wind  gauge  either  right 


83 

or  left,  it  does  not  matter  which,  but  enough  to  move 
the  hit  one-half  of  the  width  of  the  target.  If  he 
moved  the  windage  gauge  right  this  amount  and 
again  missed  on  the  next  shot,  he  should  move  it  the 
other  direction  and  double  the  amount;  for  instance, 
at  600  yards  he  missed  the  target  and  on  his  second 
shot  moves  the  wind  gauge  1£  points  right  from 
where  it  was  set  for  his  first  shot.  He  again  misses, 
and  on  the  third  shot  should  move  the  wind  gauge 
back  not  only  the  1£  points  but  in  addition  thereto 
another  1£  points  so  it  would  stand  If  points  to  the 
left  of  his  first  shot  and  3  points  to  the  left  of  the 
second  shot.  This  should  give  him  a  hit  if  he  missed 
on  account  of  windage  at  the  first  shot  unless  his 
first  estimate  was  very  wild.  If  he  again  misses  on 
the  third  shot  it  becomes  probable  that  he  is  missing 
for  elevation,  either  over  or  under.  If  no  hits  have 
been  observed  in  the  dirt  below  the  target,  it  is  prob- 
able that  he  is  going  over.  If  the  weather  conditions 
are  good,  it  is  also  probable  that  he  is  missing  for 
elevation  and  not  for  windage.  The  proper  correction 
to  make  in  this  case  is  to  lower  the  elevation  enough 
to  lower  the  hit  one-half  of  the  target,  setting  the 
wind  gauge  at  the  first  and  best  estimate  of  the 
windage.  If  he  misses  the  target  on  'this  shot,  then 
raise  the  elevation  twice  as  much  as  he  lowered. 
This  should  give  him  a  hit  and  thereafter  correc- 
tions are  made  on  the  hit. 

4.  From  the  foregoing  statement  it  must  not  be 
inferred  that  the  sight  should  be  set  at  zero  for  the 
first  shot  when  the  wind  is  blowing  either  right  or 
left.  The  normal  zero  of  the  rifle  is  taken  as  the 
starting  point  when  its  actual  zero  has  not  been  de- 


84 

termined  by  shooting.  If  the  wind  is  blowing  either 
to  the  right  or  left,  the  wind  gauge  must  be  moved 
into  the  wind  enough  to  offset  its  effect,  and  this  must 
be  done  by  estimating  the  speed  of  the  wind  for  the 
first  shot;  the  rule  for  this  is  based  on  the  9  and  3 
o'clock  directions.  The  velocity  of  the  wind  is  always 
a  matter  of  estimate.  There  is  no  way  to  get  the 
velocity  exactly.  Even  instruments  for  that  purpose 
only  find  it  at  a  particular  point,  and  it  may  be 
different  100  or  200  yards  away.  It  is  the  average 
velocity  over  all  the  ground  where  the  bullet  is  to  go 
that  should  be  estimated.  Having  made  this  estimate, 
multiply  it  by  the  range  in  hundred  of  yards  and 
divide  by  10;  the  result  will  give  the  setting  of  the 
wind  gauge  in  quarter  points.  For  instance,  if  the 
range  is  600  yards,  the  wind  15  miles  from  9  o'clock ; 
then  multiply  6  by  15  and  divide  by  10 ;  the  result  is 
9,  which  would  mean  9  quarter  points,  or  2£  points 
of  left  wind.  If  the  direction  were  3  o'clock  it  would 
be  2J  points  of  right  wind.  If  the  direction  were 
2  or  4  o'clock  this  number  of  quarter  points  would  be 
reduced  by  about  one-ninth ;  and  likewise  if  the  direc- 
tion were  8  or  10  o'clock  it  would  be  reduced  by  one- 
ninth  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  next  hours,  1 
and  5,  and  7  and  11,  reduce  it  about  one-half.  The 
other  hours,  12  and  6  do  not  require  a  movement  of 
the  w^ind  gauge;  it  stands  at  zero  for  both  of  these 
directions. 

5.  While  the  12  and  6  o'clock  winds  do  not  affect 
the  lateral  movement  of  the  bullet  and  therefore  do 
not  require  a  wind  gauge  adjustment,  they  do  affect 
the  elevation.  The  12  o'clock  wind  causes  greater  re- 
sistance and  therefore  causes  the  bullet  to  hit  lower, 


85 


ad  this  requires  that  the  rear  sight  be  raised.  How- 
ever, this  effect  is  very  slight  at  the  shorter  ranges 
and  becomes  important  only  at  the  longer  ranges. 
The  following  table  shows  how  much  a  5-mile  wind 
from  12  o'clock  will  lower  the  hit  at  each  distance 
from  100  yards  to  1,000  yards : 


Yards. 

Inches. 

Yards. 

Inches. 

100 

0  012 

600 

1.260 

200 

.060 

700  

2.160 

300 

203 

800        

3.  820 

400                          

.343 

900  

7.120 

500 

.700 

1,000     .  .           

12.  130 

In  a  6  o'clock  wind  the  hits  would  be  approximately 
as  much  higher  as  they  are  lower  in  the  above  table. 
As  the  wind  increases  in  speed  the  hits  would  be 
lowered  if  the  wind  were  from  12  o'clock  and  raised 
if  from  6  o'clock,  approximately  in  proportion  to  the 
above  table  for  the  5-mile  wind.  It  will  be  observed 
that  there  is  no  proportion  of  this  variation  in  hits 
with  the  distance  because  the  slowing  velocity  of  the 
bullet  causes  a  much  greater  effect  in  proportion  as 
the  distance  increases.  This  makes  it  difficult  to 
establish  a  simple  rule,  except  it  may  be  stated  that 
at  1,000  yards  a  10-mile  head  wind  requires  an  in- 
crease of  25  yards  in  elevation,  and  a  10-mile  6  o'clock 
wind  would  require  a  decrease  of  that  amount. 

6.  In  hot  weather  and  over  snow  and  ice  there  are 
certain  conditions  of  light  refraction  which  are  com- 
monly called  mirage  by  riflemen.  On  an  ordinary  hot 
day,  over  the  ordinary  rifle  range,  this  mirage  appears 
in  the  form  of  heat  waves,  visible  to  the  naked  eye,. 


86 

and  much  more  visible  through  an  observation  tele- 
scope or  field  glass.  This  mirage  produces  a  certain 
amount  of  displacement,  sometimes  in  one  direction 
and  sometimes  in  another,  depending  upon  the  angle 
given  by  the  direction  of  the  wind.  These  irregulari- 
ties cause  a  certain  amount  of  disturbance  for  the 
rifleman  and  to  some  extent  reduce  his  scores.  How- 
ever, the  visible  mirage  is  really  the  friend  and  helper 
of  the  rifleman  as  soon  as  he  learns  to  treat  it  simply 
as  his  wind  flag.  The  mirage  is  only  possible  in  light 
winds ;  it  is  entirely  dispelled  by  wind  of  about  15 
miles  per  hour ;  and  its  effect  is  always  decreased  as 
the  wind  increases.  It  can  be  observed  in  movement 
with  the  wind  and  is  a  good  index  of  the  speed  of 
the  wrind.  Mirage  will  disclose  wind  movements  that 
would  otherwise  be  invisible.  The  rifleman  who  has 
learned  to  observe  these  changes  and  will  make  slight 
changes  of  his  sights  to  offset  them,  will  stay  in  the 
bull's  eye  when  his  competitor,  who  does  not  judge  air 
movement  by  movement  of  the  mirage,  will  get  4's  or 
even  3's.  The  best  way  is  to  simply  observe  these 
mirage  or  heat-wave  movements  for  the  purpose  of 
determining  the  air  movement,  and  then  change  the 
sights  according  to  the  windage  rules.  Since  mirage 
is  strongest  in  the  lightest  winds,  it  often  occurs  when 
the  wind  is  changing  from  right  to  left.  One  shot  may 
require  a  one-half  point  right  wind  and  the  next  shot 
a  one-half  point  left  wind.  Changes  like  this  can  be 
determined  better  by  observing  the  direction  and 
speed  of  the  heat  waves  or  mirage  than  any  other  way. 
If  at  600  yards  the  observation  of  mirage  movement 
disclosed  it  moving  from  9  o'clock  at  the  rate  of  5 
miles  per  hour,  the  sight  setting  would  be  0.69  to  the 


87 


roximately  three-quarters  point  left  wind. 
If  on  the  next  shot  the  direction  changed  and  the  heat 
waves  moved  from  3'  o'clock  at  the  same  speed  the 
sight  setting  would  be  three-quarters  point  right,  and 
the  shots  would  stay  in  the  bull's-eye.  This  is  an  ex- 
treme case,  but  such  cases  do  occur.  They  often  occur 
where  the  direction  switches  from  right  to  left,  but 
not  the  full  switch  from  3  to  9  o'clock ;  rather  from 
11  to  1  o'clock,  or  10  to  2  o'clock.  The  following  table 
shows  the  number  of  points  of  deflection  or  windage 
necessary  to  correct  for  a  10-mile  per  hour  wind,  drift 
not  considered ;  and  for  a  5-mile  per  hour  wind  the 
correction  would  be  one-half  as  much. 


Range  (yards). 

Direction  of  wind. 

Ill,  IX. 

II,  VIII, 
IV,  X. 

I,  VII, 
V,XI. 

100.  . 

0.23 
.34 
.61 
.86 
1.11 
1.39 
1.68 
2.00 
2.34 
2.67 

0.20 
.31 
.53 
.75 
•    .96 
1.20 
1.45 
1.73 
2.03 
2.30 

0.10 
.17 
.30 
.43 
.55 
.69 
.84 
1.00 
1.17 
1.33 

200       ....          .          .       -         

300 

400  

500.      .. 

600 

700  

800 

900 

1000  . 

The  above  table  indicates  the  corrections  for  mirage 
in  lateral  motion.  There  is  one  other  condition  of 
mirage  that  should  be  noted,  and  that  is  the  boiling 
mirage.  This  occurs  when  there  is  no  wind  move- 
ment in  either  direction  and  no  windage  is  required. 

If  mirage  conditions  are  frequently  recurring  it  is 
best  to  wait  until  the  same  condition  is  seen  for  each 


88 

shot  and  make  no  change  of  the  sights  whatever. 
Time  is  the  controlling  factor  in  this  method,  and  if 
there  is  not  time  to  wait  then  the  sights  must  be 
changed  as  above  indicated. 

There  are  also  conditions  under  which  mirage  will 
be  observed  going  in  one  direction  over  one  part  of 
the  range  and  in  an  opposite  direction  over  another 
part  of  the  range.  Under  those  conditions  it  is  often 
impossible  to  determine  the  sight  setting  except  from 
hits  on  the  target.  If  the  conditions  remain  uniform 
the  hit  on  the  target  is  always  the  guiding  point  for 
sight  correction,  regardless  of  whether  conditions  are 
good  or  bad.  It  is  the  changing  conditions  that  pre- 
sent the  problem  to  the  rifleman. 

7.  A  consideration  of  the  aiming  point  is  of  some 
importance  to  the  subject  of  sight  setting,  but  more 
especially  with  reference  to  the  use  of  the  battle 
sight.  For  the  peep  sight  the  aiming  point  is  at  6 
o'clock  and  on  the  white  part  of  the  target ;  the  hit- 
ting point  is  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye.  This  means 
an  indirect  aiming  point.  In  other  words,  the  aim  is 
at  one  point  and  the  hit  intended  for  another.  At 
200  yards  and  300  yards  the  aiming  point  is  about  6 
inches  below  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye ;  at  500  and 
600  yards  it  is  about  15  inches  below  the  center  of  the 
bull's-eye  and  at  1,000  yards  it  is  about  27  inches 
below  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye.  This  lowering  of 
the  aiming  point  requires  a  corresponding  raising  of 
the  rear  sight,  and  in  part  accounts  for  the  fact  that 
the  sights  of  many  rifles  must  be  set  at  300  and  even 
400  yards  elevation  when  shooting  at  200  yards  dis- 
tance. At  the  longer  distances  the  increase  in  eleva- 
tion is  relatively  smaller.  The  only  reason  for  this 


89 

indirect  aiming  point  is  the  fact  that  a  black  sight 
is  seen  more  distinctly  upon  a  light  background,  and 
the  rifleman  can  tell  better  the  exact  point  at  which 
his  front  sight  is  aligned.  If  the  black  sight  is 
aligned  on  the  black  bull's-eye  it  is  impossible  to  tell 
whether  it  is  high  or  low,  right  or  left.  This  makes 
possible  a  considerable  variation  in  the  hold  which 
can  not  be  seen,  but  it  would  be  seen  if  the  sight 
were  on  the  light  background. 

With  the  battle  sight,  at  200  and  300  yards  the 
aiming  point  is  still  lower,  being  about  26  inches 
below  the  hitting  point  at  200  yards,  and  about  28 
inches  below  it  at  300  yards.  These  figures  vary 
Considerably  with  individual  rifles  and  with  indi- 
vidual eyes.  With  many  rifles  it  is  necessary  to  have 
aiming  points  at  these  distances  below  the  entire  tar- 
get. This  makes  rapid  fire  much  more  difficult,  and 
it  should  be  corrected  by  putting  in  the  highest  size  of 
the  front  sight  when  possible.  It  should  be  observed 
that  the  holding  or  aiming  point  is  about  2  inches 
lower  at  300  yards  than  at  200  yards.  The  reason 
for  this  is  because  the  battle  sight  is  set  at  547  yards 
and  the  rising  trajectory  has  not  reached  its  highest 
point  when  200  yards  from  the  muzzle.  Since  the 
bullet  will  rise  over  2  inches  more  in  going  the  next 
100  yards  it  is  necessary  to  hold  that  much  lower  in 
order  to  hit  the  same  point. 

8.  The  effect  of  light  upon  sight  setting  in  an  indi- 
vidual question.  No  rules  can  be  established  that 
will  apply  to  all  men  alike.  In  a  bright  light  one  man 
will  hit  higher  and  be  required  to  lower  his  sight ; 
another  man  will  get  the  opposite  result ;  still  other 
men  find  no  difference.  The  shade  of  the  sights  may 


90 

also  make  a  difference  in  the  windage,  but  this  differ- 
ence may  be  opposite  with  different  men.  If  the  right 
side  of  the  front  sight  is  bright  and  the  left  side 
shaded,  some  eyes  would  see  the  right  side  more  dis- 
tinctly and  place  it  on  the  aiming  point;  others 
would  see  the  shaded  side  more  distinctly  and  place 
it  on  the  'aiming  point.  This  would  make  a  difference 
in  windage  about  equal  to  the  thickness  of  the  front 
sight  blade.  Such  differences  may  sometimes  be 
avoided  by  using  a  sight  cover,  and  sometimes  by  care- 
fully observing  the  two  sides  of  the  sight  when  aiming. 
It  is  always  a  good  rule  to  carefully  look  at  the  out- 
line of  the  sights  in  every  kind  of  light,  and  such  care 
will  often  correct  error  caused  by  changes  of  light. 
In  every  case  each  man  should  learn  from  actual  ex- 
perience the  effect  of  light  upon  his  own  aiming,  and 
then  make  a  record  of  it  and  set  his  sights  as  his 
individual  case  demands.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
difficult  problems  in  the  better  training  of  the  rifleman. 

Other  weather  conditions  that  effect  sight  setting 
are  temperature  and  moisture.  A  change  of  7?°  in 
temperature  will  change  the  hit  on  the  target  1  inch 
for  each  100  yards  distance.  If  the  weather  becomes 
7£°  warmer  the  hit  will  be  10  inches  higher  at  1,000 
yards ;  and  the  opposite  results  if  the  weather  be- 
comes colder.  In  a  damp  air  the  hits  will  be  higher, 
and  in  a  dry  air  lower.  But  there  is  no  moisture  rule 
that  is  reliable  like  the  temperature  rule.  Many  times 
one  set  of  weather  conditions  works  the  opposite  of 
another  and  thus  they  offset  each  other. 

In  this  connection  it  is  also  well  to  note  that  if 
glasses  are  worn  they  must  be  kept  in  a  uniform  po- 
sition so  the  angle  with  the  eye  will  be  constant.  A 


91 

change  of  this  angle  may  mean  a  change  of  elevations 
or  zero  or  both.  This  is  more  likely  to  occur  with 
glasses  held  in  place  by  pinching  the  nose. 

9.  Telescopic  sight  setting  has  been  a  source  of  a 
great  deal  of  confusion.  This  can  be  avoided  by  bore 
sighting  the  rifle.  The  best  method  of  bore  sighting 
the  rifle  is  to  dismount  the  bolt  mechanism,  leaving 
the  bolt  in  the  rifle.  The  aperture  for  the  striker 
then  serves  as  a  rear  peep  sight  in  the  bore  and  assists 
in  making  the  bore  sighting  accurate.  The  rifle  should 
then  be  placed  on  a  sandbag,  or,  better  still,  upon  an 
adjustable  rest  that  will  hold  it  firmly  in  place.  It 
is  then  carefully  sighted  through  the  aperture  and  the 
bore,  and  the  bull's-eye  of  the  target  carefully  put  in 
the  center  of  each.  It  must  remain  in  this  position 
without  being  moved,  and  the  telescope  sight  so  ad- 
justed that  the  center  of  the  cross  hairs  will  cover  the 
center  of  the  bull's-eye  at  the  same  time  the  bore  is 
sighted  on  the  bull's-eye  as  above  indicated.  When 
this  is  carefully  done  it  gives  a  practical  zero  of  the 
telescopic  sight  for  both  windage  and  elevation.  The 
reading  of  the  sight  graduations  for  both  windage 
and  elevation  should  then  be  carefully  noted  and  re- 
corded as  the  zero  of  each.  The  graduations  on  the 
sleeve  of  the  Winchester  A-5  telescope  represent  25 
units  corresponding  to  micrometer  readings.  Each 
graduation  on  the  thimble  represents  one  of  these 
units  and,  therefore,  a  full  turn  of  the  thimble  is  25, 
or  the  same  as  a  single  graduation  on  the  sleeve.  The 
angle  of  these  units  moves  the  hit  on  the  target  ap- 
proximately one-half  inch  for  each  100  yards  dis- 
tance. The  windage  screw  is  the  same  as  that  for 
elevation.  If  after  a  rifle  had  been  bore  sighted  and 


92 

the  elevation  sleeve  showed  3  red  lines  and  the  thimble 
9  past  the  zero  point,  then  the  zero  of  elevation  would 
be  stated  and  indicated  as  follows :  Bore-sighted  eleva- 
tion zero  3+9.  If  at  the  same  time  the  windage  sleeve 
showed  4  red  lines  and  the  thimble  19  past  the  zero 
point  then  the  zero  would  be  designated  and  indicated 
as  follows :  Bore-sighted  windage  zero  4-fl9.  These 
two  readings  having  been  determined  by  a  careful  and 
accurate  bore  sight  will  give  a  starting  point  from 
which  any  rifle  can  be  easily  put  on  the  target  up  to 
1,000  yards.  If  the  wind  is  blowing  the  wind  gauge 
screw  will  be  moved  to  the  right  or  left  of  the  zero, 
figuring  each  graduation  as  one-eighth  of  a  point  of 
wind,  which  moves  the  hit  one-half  inch  for  each  100 
yards  distance,  as  above  stated.  Therefore,  estimate 
the  wind  and  move  the  sight  into  the  wind,  and  to  the 
right  or  left,  exactly  as  the  metallic  sight  would  be 
moved. 

For  elevation  add  together  all  the  numbers  of 
each  100  yards  distance  up  to  600  yards  and  the  sum 
of  these  numbers  will  give  the  number  of  units  to  raise 
the  sight  for  elevation.  For  instance,  if  the  dis- 
tance is  600  yards,  by  adding  all  the  serial  numbers 
from  1  to  6,  inclusive,  we  get  21 ;  the  sight  must, 
therefore,  be  raised  21  graduations  above  the  bore- 
sight  zero  for  elevation.  This  amount  of  raise  to- 
gether with  the  jump  of  the  rifle  will  put  the  hit 
on  the  target.  If  the  distance  is  above  600  yards  it 
is  necessary  to  add  all  the  serial  numbers  represent- 
ing the  other  hundreds,  and  50  per  cent  more.  For 
800  yards,  therefore,  add  7  and  8,  then  7  more  or 
one-half  of  the  total  of  the  two.  This  would  give 
a  grand  total  of  43  which  the  sight  must  be  raised 


93 

above  the  bore-sight  zero  for  elevation  to  hit  the 
target  at  800  yards.  After  the  target  is  hit  it  will 
generaly  be  found  necessary  to  make  further  correc- 
tions of  the  sight,  and  this  should  be  done  until  the 
group  of  hits  is  around  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye 
and  then  a  record  made  of  the  actual  elevation  and 
windage  used  to  get  this  group.  This  record  will  be 
more  accurate  than  the  bore-sight  zeroes  with  the 
calculated  changes. 

After  the  elevation  is  accurately  obtained  by  ac- 
tual shooting  at  each  distance  it  is  a  good  plan  to 
again  bore  sight  the  rifle  with  the  sight  set  as  it  was 
fired.  While  the  bore  is  centered  on  the  bull's-eye 
and  without  moving  the  rifle  again  look  through  the 
telescopic  sight  and  observe  how  far  the  cross  hairs 
are  pointing  below  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye.  For 
instance,  at  600  yards  it  will  be  observed  that  the 
cross  hairs  are  pointing  about  60  inches  below  the 
center  of  the  bull's-eye.  If  the  number  of  inches  from 
the  center  of  .the  bull's-eye  down  to  where  the  sight 
points  is  carefully  observed  and  recorded  for  each 
100  yards  distance  from  the  target,  and  after  the 
sights  have  been  adjusted  by  actual  shooting,  it  would 
then  be  possible  to  bore  sight  the  rifle  upon  the  target 
without  using  any  sight  graduations  whatever.  All 
that  would  be  necessary  would  be  to  sight  the  bore 
on  the  bull's-eye  and  at  the  same  time  adjust  the 
telescopic  sight  to  a  point  the  right  number  of  inches 
below.  The  windage  adjustment  must  be  made  as 
at  first  indicated  herein.  This  method  is  not  prac- 
tical above  600  yards  because  of  the  greater  distance 
the  sight  points  below  the  bull's-eye. 


94 

CHAPTER  12. 
GALLERY  PRACTICE. 

If  there  is  proper  equipment  and  time,  gallery  prac- 
tice has  considerable  value,  because  it  is  real  shooting. 
However,  if  a  man  must  use  a  strange  rifle  with  a 
strange  trigger  squeeze  and  complicated  with  an 
adapter  or  reducer  for  the  load,  it  creates  such  con- 
fusion and  nuisance  as  to  almost  entirely  destroy  the 
value.  From  a  military  standpoint  gallery  practice 
will  not  be  of  much  value  until  each  man  can  use  his 
own  rifle  with  a  reduced  load  that  will  function  the 
same  as  the  regular  load  at  both  slow  and  rapid  fire. 
Even  then  a  large  amount  of  gallery  practice  is  not 
desirable  for  the  beginner.  The  absence,  of  recoil  is 
likely  to  give  him  a  false  idea  of  the  rifle  and  some- 
times good  gallery  shots  become  the  worst  flinchers. 
Gallery  practice  should  only  be  considered  as  a  step  in 
the  preliminary  training.  It  is  an  easy  method  of 
testing  sight  alignment,  trigger  squeeze,  and  other  pre- 
liminary instruction.  In  peace  time  and  for  civilian 
clubs  the  small  bore  rifle  has  great  value  because  of 
the  small  expense  and  the  ease  with  which  accessible 
ranges  can  be  procured. 

The  animated  target  affords  an  advanced  course 
in  gallery  practice.  It  is  a  fascinating  sport  and  it 
gives  some  idea  of  shooting  at  moving  targets.  But 
it  is  like  all  other  preliminary  instruction.  It  is  only 
a  step  toward  the  high-power  rifle  and  must  not  be 
substituted.  Time  enough  should  be  spent  on  pre- 
liminary matters  to  assimilate  the  ideas  they  teach 
and  then  put  them  into  the  shooting  of  the  military 
rifle. 


95 
CHAPTER  13. 

SOLUTION  OF  RANGE  PROBLEMS. 

After  it  has  been  decided  that  each  soldier  should 
have  the  best  training  in  marksmanship,  after  the 
ammunition  allowance  has  been  increased  until  this 
training  is  possible,  after  the  officers  have  been  trained 
in  the  best  system  of  instruction,  still  the  whole  train- 
ing is  likely  to  prove  inadequate  for  the  following 
reasons : 

A.  Inconvenient  location  of  ranges. 

IB.  Insufficient  number  of  targets. 
C.  Improper  arrangement  of  targets. 
D.  Inefficient  organization  for  training  instruc- 
tors. 
E.  Inefficient     organization     for    training     the 
troops. 

The  range  should  always  be  close  to  camp  or  quar- 
ters. In  all  cases  where  this  is  impossible,  the  only 
alternative  is  to  establish  a  temporary  camp  at  the 
range  during  the  firing  period.  While  one-half  day 
of  firing  is  sufficient  for  any  one  day,  still  the  other 
duties  of  that  same  day  should  not  be  of  the  heavy 
fatiguing  kind.  It  is  impossible  to  get  good  results  in 
marksmanship  if  the  men  are  worn  out  in  long 
marches  or  violent  exercises.  Short  marches,  light 
drills,  and  study  periods  are  desirable,  but  not  during 
the  same  half  day  they  are  firing. 

Men  learn  to  shoot  by  shooting,  and  if  the  number 
of  targets  is  insufficient  for  the  allotted  time,  the 
training  will  always  be  inadequate. 

The  targets  should  be  arranged  with  reference  to 
the  course  to  be  fired.  The  course  should  include  such 


distances  and  kinds  of  fire  as  will  best  train  a  man 
to  learn  and  operate  his  rifle,  to  learn  and  correct 
his  own  faults,  and  to  hit  under  battle  conditions. 
The  latter  is  the  final  object  to  be  attained,  but  it  is  a 
mistake  to  attempt  the  simulation  of  battle  conditions 
in  the  beginning.  After  a  man  has  become  a  reliable 
target  shot  he  is  then  ready  for  the  battle  stunts  and 
he  will  make  rapid  progress  in  them.  He  gets  the 
essential  groundwork  of  all  shooting  on  the  targets. 
He  gets  it  quicker  and  better  if  the  targets  are  ar- 
ranged in  logical  sequence  and  for  continuous  opera- 
tion. Long  experience  has  shown  that  for  slow  fire 
there  should  be  the  same  number  for  targets  at  each 
firing  point.  It  has  also  shown  that  men  should  fire 
at  the  long  ranges  as  soon  as  they  can  hit  the  targets. 
When  a  man  can  hit  the  target  at  1,000  yards  he  gets 
more  training  out  of  one  shot  than  out  of  five  at  half 
the  distance.  It  improves  him  more  rapidly  for  the 
short  distances.  In  rapid  fire  it  has  been  found  that 
one-half  the  number  of  targets  will  take  care  of  the 
same  number  of  men  as  at  slow  fire.  Therefore,  at 
all  firing  points  where  both  slow  and  rapid  fire  is 
required,  the  targets  should  be  in  the  proportion  of 
50  slow  fire  and  25  rapid. 

In  training  troops  in  marksmanship  it  is  fundamen- 
tal that  all  firing  should  be  under  the  personal  direc- 
tion of  an  instructor  who  knows  his  business.  Even  if 
all  officers  are  'trained  as  the  best  marksmen  and  best 
instructors,  still  they  can  not  give  this  personal  super- 
vision. There  are  not  enough  of  them.  However, 
there  are  enough  of  them  to  train  the  noncommis- 
sioned officers  as  instructors,  and  a  school  for  this 
purpose  should  have  precedence  of  all  others  in  war- 


97 

time.  The  organization  for  this  school  must  fit  the 
range  and  must  include  enough  students  in  each  unit 
to  provide  an  instructor  for  every  man  when  he  comes 
to  the  firing  point. 

After  these  schools  are  completed  the  final  problem 
is  a  firing  organization  that  will  give  these  instructors 
a  chance  with  their  men  and  give  the  men  a  chance  to 
fire  the  necessary  amount  during  the  allotted  time. 
The  men  must  not  be  hustled  and  hurried  in  their 
firing,  but  a  proper  organization  will  deliver  them 
promptly  at  the  target  and  conserve  the  time  for  the 
proper  instruction  in  firing. 

PROBLEM  No.  1 :  A  cantonment,  rifle  and  pistol  ranges 
are  to  be  located  and  constructed  at  a  designated 
point  for  the  training  of  a  division  in  war  time. 

General  situation :  The  location  of  the  camp  is  to 
be  governed  by  the  location  of  the  ranges.  The  ter- 
rain is  adequate  and  suitable.  In  this  division  there 
are  18,000  men  armed  with  the  rifle  and  12,000  armed 
with  the  pistol.  The  training  period  will  be  16  weeks. 
The  ammunition  allowance  will  be  as  ordered  by  the 
commanding  general.  The  Regular  Army  course  will 
be  fired. 

Special  situation :  You  will  be  assistant"  chief  of 
staff  in  charge  of  training  the  division  in  marksman- 
ship and  are  called  upon  for  a  report  upon  the  location 
of  rifle,  pistol,  gallery,  and  triangle  ranges;  the  num- 
ber of  targets  required  for  each ;  the  arrangement  of 
targets  and  the  firing  line;  the  number  of  telephones 
and  other  special  equipment  required. 

Solution :  1.  These  ranges  should  be  built  on  a 
common  firing  line  parallel  to  the  camp,  and  at  a  dis- 
tance not  exceeding  300  yards.  North  is  the  best 
130339°— 19 7 


98 

firing  direction,  and  the  ranges  should  be  located 
accordingly  if  the  terrain  permits.  If  north  can  not 
be  used,  then  other  directions  should  be  chosen  in  the 
following  order:  Northeast,  northwest,  east,  west, 
southeast,  southwest,  south.  A  change  in  latitude 
would  change  the  preference  of  direction.  The  direc- 
tion of  fire  is  of  minor  importance  and  will  not  be 
permitted  to  outweigh  other  important  considerations 
of  locating  either  camp  or  ranges. 

2.  There  should  be  6  firing  points  for  the  rifle,  be- 
ginning on  the  left  of  the  line,  with  targets  as  follows : 

No.  1,  200  yards,  75  targets,  8-foot  centers. 

No.  2,  300  yards,  75  targets,  8-foot  centers. 

No.  3,  500  yards,  75  targets,  9-foot  centers. 

No.  4,  600  yards,  50  targets,  9-foot  centers. 

No.  5,  800  yards,  50  targets,  14-foot  centers. 

No.  6,  1,000  yards,  50  targets,  14-foot  centers. 

If  for  any  reason  the  whole  range  can  not  be  built, 
then  the  long-range  targets  may  be  omitted  or  re- 
duced in  number.  The  others  are  absolutely  necessary 
if  the  training  is  to  be  efficient. 

3.  To  the  right  of  No.  6  rifle  firing  point  there  should 
be  three  firing  points  for  the  pistol,  with  targets  as 
follows : 

Pistol  No.  1,  15  yards,  25  targets,  6-foot  centers. 
Pistol  No.  2,  25  yards,  25  targets,  6-foot  centers. 
Pistol  No.  3,  50  yards,  25  targets,  8-foot  centers. 

4.  To  the  right  of  the  pistol  range  there  should  be 
two  firing  points  for  gallery  practice,  with  targets 
as  follows: 

Gallery  No.  1,  50  feet,  50  targets,  4-foot  centers. 
Gallery  No.  2,  75  feet,  50  targets,  4-foot  centers. 
The  gallery  range  will  be  indoors  when  practicable, 
45  targets  to  each  regiment  or  equal  unit. 


99 

5.  There  should  be  50  rests  for  sighting  triangles 
set  att  a  distance  of  100  yards,  from  50  sighting  boards. 
These  rests  will  require  10-foot  length,  12-foot  cen- 
ters, 3  rifles  to  the  rest,  and  built  for  the  standing 
position.    This  triangle  range  may  be  placed  on  either 
flank  of  the  firing  line,  or  at  any  other  convenient 
place  near  to  the  camp  and  the  firing  line. 

6.  The  targets   at  each  firing  point  will  be  num- 
bered serially,  beginning  on  the  left  with  No.  1.    Each 
firing  point  will  also  be  designated  by  painted  signs 
at  each  end  of  its  line,  reading  "  Rifle  Range  No.  1," 
or  "  Pistol  Range  No.  3,"  or  "  Gallery  Range  No.  2." 
The  triangle  range  will  be  designated  by  the  words 
"Triangle  Range,"  and  the  rests  will  be  numbered  1 
to  50. 

7.  Thora  should  be  one  telephone  on  the  line,  and 
one  in  the  pit  for  each  10  targets.    There  should  also 
be  an  efficient  buzzer  for  each  target. 

8.  The  firing  points  should  be  graded  level.     Slop- 
ing is  a  disadvantage.     Behind  the  300  yard  firing 
point   should  be  erected   a   platform   simulating   the 
standing   trench   position   for   the   purpose   of   firing 
with  the  sandbag  rest  in  that  position. 

PROBLEM  No.  2 :  The  same  as  Problem  No.  1. 

General  situation :  The  same,  except  Special  Course 
"  C  "  will  be  used. 

Special  situation :  The  same  as  No.  1. 

Solution :  The  solution  is  the  same,  except  there 
should  be  5  firing  points  as  follows: 

No.  1,  100  yards,  75  targets,  6-foot  centers. 

No.  2,  200  yards,  75  targets,  6-foot  centers. 

No.  3,  300  yards,  75  targets,  6  foot  centers. 

No.  4,  500  yards,  50  targets,  9-foot  centers. 

No.  5,  600  yards,  50  targets,  9-foot  centers 


100 

PROBLEM  No.  3 :  The  training  of  a  division  in  marks- 
manship in  war  time. 

General  situation:  The  same  as  for  problem  No.  1, 
and  with  the  range  constructed  and  equipped  accord- 
ing to  the  solution  of  that  problem,  and  the  further 
fact  is  assumed  that  all  officers  have  taken  the  marks- 
manship course  as  outlined  in  this  publication. 

Special  situation :  As  assistant  chief  of  staff  of  the 
division  in  charge  of  training  the  division  in  marks- 
manship, you  are  called  upon  to  report  to  the  com- 
manding general  a  complete  plan  of  organization  for : 

A.  Training  instructors. 

B.  Operating  the  range  during  the  training. 

C.  Training  the  troops. 

D.  Operating    the    range    while    training    the 

troops. 

Solution :  1.  A  school  for  training  noncommissioned 
officers  as  instructors  should  be  organized  immedi* 
ately.  Detail  for  the  school : 

One  officer  as  chief  instructor. 

Fifty-four  officers  as  instructors  for  rifle  and  pistol. 

One  thousand  noncommissioned  officers  as  students. 

One  chief  range  officer. 

Five  range  officers. 

Five  pit  officers. 

Forty-eight  noncommissioned  officers  for  pit  detail. 

Five  hundred  and  thirty  privates  for  telephone  and 
pit  detail. 

2.  All  of  the  officers,  students,  noncommissioned 
officers,  and  70  privates  will  report  to  the  chief  in- 
structor at  the  range  at  7  a.  m.,  the  first  day  of  the 
school,  for  duty  until  12  m.  These  hours  shall  be  the 
hours  of  the  school  daily,  except  Sunday.  The  course 


of  instruction  will  be  fhe  fc&jne  a*  < 
will  continue  for  four  weeks. 

3.  The  chief  instructor  will  divide  the  students  into 
50  groups  of  20  each,  give  them  serial  numbers  1  to 
50,  and  assign  an  officer  as  instructor  for  each  group. 
He  will  assign  a  senior  instructor  and  three  assistants 
to  pistol  instruction.     Each  instructor  will  subdivide 
his  group  into  four  firing  squads  and  appoint  his  four 
most    experienced    men    as    squad    leaders,    and    the 
leader   of   squad   No.   1   shall   also  be   group   leader. 
He  will  also  designate  a  group  statistical  officer. 

4.  The  first  three  days  will  be  devoted  to  prelimi- 
nary  instruction  of  the   students   in   both   rifle   and 
pistol   and   to   the  instruction  of  the   range   officers, 
telephone  and  pit  details,  and  to  putting  the  range 
in  readiness.     The  fourth  day  the  students  will  fire 
10  shots  slow  fire  prone  at  200  yards  under  the  per- 
sonal direction  of  their  instructors,  and  the  squads 
not  firing  will  continue  preliminary  exercises  under 
their  squad  leaders.     The  fifth  day  50  additional  pit 
detail  will  report,  and  10  shots  slow  fire  prone  will 
be  fired  at  300  yards  and  10  at  500  yards,  the  latter 
under  the  personal  direction  of  the  instructor.     The 
squads  will  rotate  from  one  range  to  the  other,  and 
when  not  firing  will  be  employed  as  on  the  fourth 
day.     On  the  sixth  day  50  additional  pit  detail  will 
report,   and   the  school   will   fire   slow   fire  prone  D 
target  at  200,  300,  and  500  yards,  the  squads  rotat- 
ing and  continuing  preliminary   exercises  when   not 
firing.     On  the  seventh  day  75  additional  pit  detail 
will  report  and  the  school  will  fire  slow  fire  at  200, 
300,  500,  and  600  yards  and  slow  fire  15  yards  pistol. 
On  the  eighth  day  the  entire  pit  detail  will  report, 


and*  Hie  -"sch^oi  will  -fir<*  slow  and  rapid  fire  at  200 
and  300  yards,  and  slow  fire  at  500  and  600  yards, 
and  slow  fire  15  and  25  yards  pistol.  Thereafter  the 
daily  program  shall  be  the  record  course  with  5  shots 
standing  and  5  shots  kneeling  at  200  yards  extra,  and 
pistol  at  all  three  ranges.  At  200,  300,  and  500  yards 
targets  1  to  50  shall  be  operated  at  slow  fire,  and 
51  to  75  at  rapid  fire.  The  groups  shall  be  assigned 
to  all  slow-fire  targets  with  the  same  number  as  the 
group  numbers,  and  two  groups  shall  be  assigned  to 
each  rapid-fire  and  pistol  target,  and  in  firing  rapid 
fire  and  pistol  they  will  alternate  man  about. 

5.  Groups  will  have  target  assignments  for  the 
rifle  and  pistol  as  follows: 

No.  1,  200  yards  slow  fire,  groups  1  to  50,  targets 
1  to  50. 

No.  1,  200  yards,  rapid  fire,  groups  1  to  25,  targets 
51  to  75;  groups  26  to  50,  targets  51  to  75. 

No.  2,  300  yards  slow  fire,  groups  1  to  50,  targets 
1  to  50. 

No.  2,  300  yards  rapid  fire,  groups  1  to  25,  targets 
51  to  75;  groups  26  to  50,  targets  51  to  75. 

No.  3,  500  yards  slow  fire,  groups  1  to  50,  targets 
1  to  50. 

No.  3,  500  yards  rapid  fire,  groups  1  to  25,  targets 
51  to  75 ;  groups  26  to  50,  targets  51  to  75. 

No.  4,  600  yards,  slow  fire,  groups  1  to  50,  targets 
1  to  50. 

Pistol  No.  1,  15  yards,  groups  1  to  25  targets  1 
to  25 ;  groups  26  to  50,  targets  1  to  25. 

Pistol  No.  2,  25  yards,  groups  1  to  25,  targets  1 
to  25 ;  groups  26  to  50,  targets  1  to  25. 

Pistol  No.  3,  50  yards,  groups  1  to  25,  targets  1 
to  25 ;  groups  26  to  50,  targets  1  to  25. 


103 


In  the  rapid  fire,  groups  1  to  25  add  50  to  their 
group  numbers  to  get  their  target  numbers,  and 
groups  26  to  50  add  25.  In  the  pistol  assignments 
groups  1  to  25  have  the  same  target  numbers  as 
their  group  numbers  and  groups  26  to  50  subtract 
25  from  their  group  numbers  to  get  their  target  num- 
bers. 

6.  At  each  firing  point  and  for  each  kind  of  fire 
the  range  officer  will  place  a  checking  blank  and 
each  squad  leader  will  check  out  when  his  squad 
finishes  by  placing  his  initials  in  the  proper  place. 
The  blank  will  be  in  the  following  form: 


Date. 


Range  No.  . 


.Fire. 


Group. 

Target. 

Squad  1. 

Squad  2. 

Squad  3. 

Squad  4. 

7.  The  following  is  the  table  for  rotation  of  firing 
squads : 


Squad  No. 

Range 
No. 

Range 
No. 

Range 
No. 

Range 
No. 

Range 
No. 

1 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Pistol 

2  

2 

3 

4 

Pistol. 

1 

3. 

3 

4 

Pistol. 

1 

2 

4     . 

4 

Pistol 

1 

2 

3 

8.  In  this  organization  the  number  of  firing  squads 
is  one  less  than  the  number  of  firing  points,  and  if 


104 

desired  and  good  squad  leaders  are  available  the 
groups  may  be  divided  into  five  squads  of  four  each, 
instead  of  the  regular  organization  of  four  squads. 
It  will  be  observed  that  this  system  of  rotation  is 
flexible  and  can  be  made  to  fit  any  rifle  range. 

9.  Those  who  qualify  to  fire  at  800  and  1,000  yards 
will  fire  at  those  ranges  during  the  last  10  days  and 
will  omit  such  other  ranges  as  the  chief  instructor 
may  direct.     During  the  same  time  the  entire  school 
will  do  part  of  its  slow  fire  with  telescopic  sights. 
When  the  long  ranges  are  being  fired,  additional  range 
officers  and  pit  detail  will  be  ordered.     When  record 
is  being  fired,   scorers  and  additional  range  officers 
will  be  ordered,  but  during  instruction  practice  each 
man  will  keep  his  own  score  and  report  it  on  a  daily 
card  to  the  statistical  officer  of  his  group.    The  statis- 
tical officer  will  submit  a  daily  report  of  his  group  to 
the  chief  instructor. 

10.  This  school  shall  be  on  duty  during  a  half  day 
of  each  day  and  five  hours  on  the  firing  line.    During 
the  rest  of  the  day-  its  entire  personnel  shall  be  avail- 
able for  other  duties.     A  second  school  organized  ex- 
actly the  same  will  relieve  the  first  school  the  other 
half  day  and  also  be  on  the  firing  line  five  hours  each 
day  and  likewise  be  available  for  other  duties  during 
the  rest  of  the  day.     If  in  the  short  days,  one  school 
will  relieve  the  other  at  midday  without  intermission 
in  order  that  each  may  have  five  hours  of  actual  firing 
as  near  as  possible. 

11.  The  details  for  students  in  these  schools  will  be 
proportionately   taken  from  all  of  the  units   in  the 
division,  including  those  armed  with  the  pistol. 


105 

12.  During  the  progress  of  these  schools  preliminary 
instruction  of  the  troops  in  both  rifle  and  pistol  train- 
ing will  begin  and  will  be  so  conducted  that  some 
units  will  have  completed  it  before  the  completion  of 
the  school.     These  units  will  then  be  available  for 
firing  on  the  range  and  all  units  shall  complete  their 
preliminary  training  before  going  to  the  range.     The 
preliminary  course  of  instruction  will  be  the  same  as 
in  the  schools,  except  that  more  time  will  be  required. 

13.  The  training  of  the  troops  in  firing  should  begin 
immediately  upon  the  completion  of  the  schools  and 
conducted  under  the  following  operation  order : 

Detail  of  officers  and  men  for  operating  the  range 
the  same  as  for  each  school,  and  from  units  not  firing. 

14.  Firing  detail,  5  groups  each  of  250  men.    These 
groups  may  be  designated  either  by  number  or  by  let- 
ter and  each  will  be  divided  into  50  firing  squads  of 
5   men   each,   numbered   1   to   50,   and  an   instructor 
trained  in  the  school  will  be  assigned  to  each  firing 
squad   and   will  have   personal  charge  of  it   at   all 
times  and  at  all  ranges  and  will  form  and  march  it 
from  one  firing  point  to  another  in  the  regular  rota- 
tion.      The    instructors    will    be    assigned    to    firing 
squads    from    their    own    units.     Company    and   bat- 
talion officers  will  be  in  general  charge,  as  near  as 
possible,  of  their  own  units.     The  firing  will  be  done 
by  half  days  the  same  as  in  the  school,  and  a  new 
firing  detail  of  the  same  number  and  with  the  same 
organization  will  report  for  the  other  half  day  each 
day.     Each  firing  detail  will  continue  in  this  training 
for  a  period  of  12  half  days,  and  during  the  time  will 
be  available  for  other  duty  the  other  half  day.    The 


106 

range  officers  and  pit  detail  will  likewise  be  on  duty 
by  half  days. 

15.  Each  group  will  have  target  assignments  for  the 
rifle  and  pistol  as  follows : 

No.  1,  200  yards  slow  fire,  targets  1  to  50. 

No.  1,  200  yards  rapid  fire,  squads  1  to  25,  targets 
51  to  75 ;  squads  26  to  50,  targets  51  to  75. 

No.  2,  300  yards  slow  fire,  targets  1  to  50. 

No.  2,  300  yards  rapid  fire,  squads  1  to  25,  targets 
51  to  75;  squads  26  to  50,  targets  51  to  75. 

No.  3,  500  yards  slow  fire,  targets  1  to  50. 

No.  3,  500  yards  rapid  fire,  squads  1  to  25,  targets 
51  to  75;  squads  26  to  50,  targets  51  to  75. 

No.  4,  600  yards  slow  fire,  targets  1  to  50. 

Pistol  No.  1,  15  yards,  squads  1  to  25,  targets  1  to 
25 ;  squads  26  to  50,  targets  1  to  25. 

Pistol  No.  2,  25  yards,  squads  1  to  25,  targets  1  to 
25 ;  squads  26  to  50,  targets  1  to  25. 

Pistol  No.  3,  50  yards,  squads  1  to  25,  targets  1  to 
25 ;  squads  26  to  50,  targets  1  to  25. 

In  all  assignments  of  rifle  targets,  slow  fire,  each 
squad  has  a  target  number  the  same  as  its  own  squad 
number.  In  all  assignments  for  rapid  fire,  squads  1 
to  25  add  50  to  their  respective  squad  numbers  for 
their  target  numbers  and  squads  26  to  50  likewise 
add  25. 

In  the  pistol  assignments,  squads  1  to  25  have  tar- 
get numbers  the  same  as  their  squad  numbers,  and 
squads  26  to  50  substract  25  to  get  their  respective 
target  numbers. 

16.  This   organization   and   target   assignment   will 
train  the  whole  division  to  fire  the  pistol  as  well  as 
the  rifle,  and  it  ought  to  be  so  trained.    If  the  6,000 


107 


not  armed  with  the  pistol  are  not  permitted  to  fire  it, 
the  men  so  ruled  out  will  not  go  to  the  pistol  range 
with  their  firing  squads.  This  is  better  than  a  sepa- 
rate organization  for  pistol  training  and  it  leaves 
plenty  of  room  for  the  officers  and  men  not  armed 
with  the  rifle. 

17.  At  each  firing  point  and  for  each  kind  of  fire 
the  range  officer  will  place  a  blank  and  as  each  squad 
finishes  the  leader  ^will  check  out  by  placing  his 
initials  in  the  proper  place.  The  blanks  will  be  in  the 
following  form : 


Date., 


Eange  No.  , 


.Fire. 


Squad. 

Target. 

Group  A. 

Group  B. 

Group  C. 

Group  D. 

Group  E. 

1 

1 

2 

2 

3 

3 

etc 

etc 

18.  The  rotation  in  firing  will  be  according  to  the 
following  table: 


Group. 

Range 
No. 

Range 
No? 

Range 
No. 

Range 
No. 

Range 
No. 

A 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Pistol. 

B... 

2 

3 

4 

Pistol. 

1 

c 

3 

4 

Pistol 

1 

2 

D.... 

4 

Pistol. 

1 

2 

3 

E 

Pistol. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

108 

During  the  first  day  of  firing  the  groups  assigned 
in  rotation  to  begin  at  500  and  600  yards  shall  be 
omitted  from  that  rotation  until  after  they  have  fired 
the  shorter  ranges.  In  the  regular  rotation  a  firing 
squad  will  fire  its  slow  fire  at  any  given  range,  and 
then  proceed  either  by  pairs  or  full  squad  to  the 
rapid  fire  targets  at  the  same  range,  and  fire  its  rapid 
fire,  and  then  proceed  as  a  squad  to  the  next  range  in 
the  rotation. 

19.  All  men  who  have  qualified  for  800  and  1,000 
yards  will  be  reorganized  into  firing  squads,  and  as- 
signed to  the  best  instructors  and  fire  those  ranges 
upon  a  separate  rotation  system  and  in  addition  to 
the  12  days'  firing  hereinbefore  prescribed. 

20.  The  firing  groups  provided  in  this  plan  can  be 
increased  to  maximum  of  300,  or  6  to  a  firing  squad, 
or  reduced  to  a  minmum  of  200,  with  4  to  a  firing 
squad.    The  number  of  groups  may  be  reduced  when 
necessary,   and  should  never  exceed  the  number  of 
firing  points.    In  all  cases  where  odd  numbers  of  men 
would   be  left  over  enough  firing  squads  should  be 
increased  to  include  them. 

21.  A  uniform  system  of  pit  details  should  be  fol- 
lowed.   All  men  should  have  training  in  the  pit.    This 
plan  of  organization  will  give  each  man  about  half 
as  much  time  in  the  pit  as  on  the  firing  line,  and  there 
would  be  extra  pit  duty  during  the  schools.    All  non- 
commissioned officers   and   men   should   be  carefully 
instructed  in  this  plan  of  organization  before  going 
to  the  range,  and  also  instructed  in  all  of  the  details 
and  duties  of  operating  the  targets.     Before  one  set 
of  noncommissioned  officers  is  relieved  the  next  set 
should  report  with  them  one  clay  for  instruction. 


109 

PROBLEM  No.  4.  The  same  as  Problem  No.  3. 

General  situation:  The  same  as  Problem  No.  3,  ex- 
cept Special  Course  C  used. 

Special  situation :  The  same. 

SOLUTION  :  1.  The  same  as  Problem  No.  3,  except  the 
firing  at  long  ranges  would  be  omitted. 

2.  The  rifle  target  assignments  for  each  group  in 
the  training  of  the  troops  would  be  as  follows : 

No.  1,  100  yards  slow  fire,  targets  1  to  50. 

No.  1,  100  yards  rapid  fire,  squads  1  to  25,  targets 
51  to  75 ;  squads  26  to  50,  targets  51  to  75. 

No.  2,  200  yards  slow  fire,  targets  1  to  50. 

No.  2,  200  yards  rapid  fire,  squads  1  to  25,  targets 
51  to  75 ;  squads  26  to  50,  targets  51  to  75. 

No.  3,  300  yards  slow  fire,  squads  1  to  25,  targets 
51  to  75 ;  squads  26  to  50,  targets  51  to  75. 

No.  4,  500  yards  slow  fire,  targets  1  to  50. 

No.  5,  600  yards  slow  fire,  targets  1  to  50. 

3.  There  should  be  six  firing  groups  each  of  200, 
divided  into  firing  sections  of  four  each,  and  the  table 
of  rotation  would  be  as  follows : 


Groups. 

Range 
No. 

Range 
No. 

Range 
Nof 

Range 
No. 

Range 
No. 

Range 
No. 

A 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

Pistol 

B... 

2 

3 

4 

5 

Pistol 

1 

c 

3 

4 

5 

Pistol 

1 

2 

D  

4 

5 

Pistol 

2 

3 

E 

5 

Pistol 

1 

3 

4 

F  

Pistol. 

1 

2 

4 

5 

4.  The  firing  schedule  will  also  be  modified  to  suit 
the  different  ranges.  In  the  preliminary  stages  the 
groups  scheduled  first  at  500  and  600  yards  will  omit 


110 

those  ranges  until  they  have  fired  the  shorter  ranges. 
After  they  have  qualified  to  fire  at  all  the  ranges 
the  maximum  daily  schedule  will  be  10  shots  slow 
and  10  shots  rapid  at  100,  200,  and  300  yards  and 
10  shots  slow  at  500  and  600  yards.  It  is  recognized 
that  the  mere  firing  of  a  prescribed  course  will  not 
train  men  to  shoot  well.  They  must  continue  to  fire 
at  all  ranges  and  all  kinds  of  fire  under  proper  in- 
struction until  they  learn  to  -hit.  The  beginning 
should  be  rjlow  and  very  careful  but  as  fast  as  the 
men  learn  to  hit  both  the  distance  and  the  number 
of  shots  shoui:!  be  increased.  Under  this  plan  24 
men  would  fire  240  shots  on  each  slow-fire  target 
in  5  hours,  and  48  men  would  fire  480  shots  on  each 
rapid-fire  target  in  the  same  time.  By  efficient  oper- 
ation of  the  targets  it  would  be  possible  to  increase 
the  groups  to  250  and  the  firing  squads  to  5.  This 
would  make  30  men  and  300  shots  to  each  slow-fire 
target  in  5  hours  or  300  minutes,  which  is  about  the 
maximum ;  at  rapid  fire  it  would  be  60  men  and  600 
shots  in  the  same  time,  but  that  would  not  reach  the 
maximum. 

5.  The  pit  cetail  is  upon  the  basis  of  one  man  for 
each  target  and  telephone,  ten  extra  for  each  pit  to 
prepare  and  paste  -targets  and  for  relief  and  orderlies, 
with  one  noncommissioned  officer  for  each  10  targets, 
one  in  charge  of  extra  men  in  each  pit,  one  in  gen- 
eral charge  of  telephones,  and  two  extra  for  relief. 
The  detail  of  officers  is  upon  the  basis  of  one  chief 
range  officer,  one  for  each  firing  point  and  one  for 
each  pit,  except  one  range  officer  and  one  pit  officer 
for  all  three  pistol  ranges. 


Ill 

6.  An  organization  of  this  kind  will  train  2,000  in- 
structors through  a  four  weeks'  course  by  half  days. 
A  half  day  in  24  hours  is  enough  of  this  training.  It 
will  give  every  other  man  in  the  division  12  half 
days  and  expend  about  800  rounds  of  ammunition 
per  man.  This  is  a  minimum  allowance  for  any  man 
who  is  going  into  a  fight  for  his  life.  In  addition  to 
this  general  training  25  per  cent  of  the  Infantry  should 
be  trained  as  snipers,  which  especially  calls  for  firing 
at  the  long  ranges  and  at  indistinct  and  moving  tar- 
gets at  unknown  distances.  The  expenditure  of  this 
ammunition  in  training  means  the  saving  of  many 
times  the  amount  in  battle. 


CHAPTER  14. 

RECORDS. 

In  order  to  make  the  best  progress  in  rifle  train- 
ing particular  attention  should  be  given  to  records. 
This  is  especially  true  when  training  instructors,  and 
it  might  also  be  said  that  every  rifleman  should  be 
trained  as  an  instructor. 

Notes. — Every  student  of  rifle  training  should  keep 
a  notebook.  It  can  be  arranged  systematically  with 
numbered  subjects  similar  to  the  outline  herein.  Each 
impressive  point  of  instruction,  both  theoretical  and 
personal  experience,  should  be  noted  under  its  proper 
number.  A  well-kept  notebook  is  a  valuable  asset. 
The  mind  is  more  keenly  directed  to  the  matter  in 
point  by  the  writing  of  the  note,  and  the  note  does 
not  forget. 


very  small  difference  of  friction  is  correspondingly 
small,  and  since  a  difference  of  friction  must  exist  and 
since  it  is  small  the  distance  rolled  over  will  be  small, 
comparatively  speaking. 

INTERIOR  BALLISTICS. 

Interior  ballistics  treat  with  forces  and  the  motion 
of  the  bullet  in  the  bore  of  the  rifle. 

The  primer. — The  primer  ignites  the  powder  in  the 
cartridge.  It  consists  of  the  cup,  percussion  composi- 
tion, disk  of  shellacked  paper,  and  the  anvil.  The  cup 
is  made  of  gilding  metal  and  contains  a  percussion 
composition  which,  when  the  primer  is  struck,  causes 
the  flash  which  ignites  the  powder.  The  disk  of 
shellacked  paper  is  placed  over  this  composition  to 
keep  out  moisture  and  to  prevent  electrolytic  action 
between  dissimilar  metals.  (Cup  and  Anvil.) 

Powder. — The  powder  is  a  pyrocellulose  composi- 
tion. The  grains  are  cylindrical  in  shape  and  covered 
\vith  a  thin  coat  of  graphite.  The  powder  charge  is 
from  47  to  50  grains  weight.  The  varying  charge  is 
due  to  one  lot  of  powder  developing  more  force  than 
another  at  the  same  temperature ;  so,  to  retain  force 
constant  the  powder  charge  is  varied.  Hence,  if  pres- 
sure, or  force,  driving  the  bullet  remains  the  same,  or 
constant,  the  velocity  of  the  bullet  remains  constant. 
Therefore,  anj  number  of  cartridges  loaded  with  dif- 
ferent lots  ol  powder  have  about  the  same  velocity 
at  the  same  temperature.  The  graduations  on  the 
sights  of  the  rifles  are  based  on  the  above  theory. 

The  bullet.— The  bullet  is  0.308  inch  in  diameter 
and  weighs  150  grains.  It  is  composed  of  a  lead  and 
tin  core,  inclosed  in  a  jacket  of  cupro-nickel. 


115 

THE  PRIMING   OF   THE   CARTRIDGE   IN   THE  RIFLE. 

When  the  cartridge  is  primed  in  the  rifle  and  com- 
bustion of  powder  takes  place  a  volume  of  gases,  at 
a  very  high  temperature,  is  given  off,  which  attains  a 
breech  pressure  of  51,000  pounds  per  square  inch. 
This  gas  acts  along  the  path  of  least  resistance  (which 
in  this  case  is  the  bullet)  and  as  the  bullet  moves 
forward  it  is  rotated  by  the  rifling  about  its  own 
axis,  and  when  the  bullet  leaves  the  barrel  it  has  a 
velocity  of  2,700  feet  per  second  and  the  bullet  rotates 
approximately  3,240  revolutions  per  second  at  the 
time  it  leaves  the  barrel.  The  rotary  motion  of  the 
bullet  about  its  own  axis  keeps  it  flying  through  space 
point  forward.  Forward  motion  and  rotation  of  the 
bullet  begin  in  breech  of  barrel  with  zero  motion  and 
rotation,  and  in  the  short  distance  from  breech  to 
muzzle  attains  the  above  velocity  and  rotation.  The 
rifling  in  the  barrel  makes  one  turn  in  every  10  inches 
to  the  right. 

PARALLELOGRAM   OF   FORCES. 

Composition  of  two  forces  not  having  the  same  line 
of  action. — If  two  forces  acting  on  a  particle  be  rep- 
resented in  direction  and  magnitude  by  the  two  adja- 
cent sides  of  a  parallelogram  then  the  diagonal  of  this 
parallelogram  passing  through  their  point  of  inter- 
section will  represent  the  magnitude  and  direction  of 
resultant  force.  In  the  above,  forces  are  considered 
as  constant. 

The  part  of  the  law  upon  which  the  above  proposi- 
tion is  based  may  be  stated  in  the  following  form : 
When  several  forces  act  simultaneously  upon  a  body, 


114 

very  small  difference  of  friction  is  correspondingly 
small,  and  since  a  difference  of  friction  must  exist  and 
since  it  is  small  the  .distance  rolled  over  will  be  small, 
comparatively  speaking. 

INTERIOR  BALLISTICS. 

Interior  ballistics  treat  with  forces  and  the  motion 
of  the  bullet  in  the  bore  of  the  rifle. 

The  primer. — The  primer  ignites  the  powder  in  the 
cartridge.  It  consists  of  the  cup,  percussion  composi- 
tion, disk  of  shellacked  paper,  and  the  anvil.  The  cup 
is  made  of  gilding  metal  and  contains  a  percussion 
composition  which,  when  the  primer  is  struck,  causes 
the  flash  which  ignites  the  powder.  The  disk  of 
shellacked  paper  is  placed  over  this  composition  to 
keep  out  moisture  and  to  prevent  electrolytic  action 
between  dissimilar  metals.  (Cup  and  Anvil.) 

Powder. — The  powder  is  a  pyrocellulose  composi- 
tion. The  grains  are  cylindrical  in  shape  and  covered 
with  a  thin  coat  of  graphite.  The  powder  charge  is 
from  47  to  50  grains  weight.  The  varying  charge  is 
due  to  one  lot  of  powder  developing  more  force  than 
another  at  the  same  temperature;  so,  to  retain  force 
constant  the  powder  charge  is  varied.  Hence,  if  pres- 
sure, or  force,  driving  the  bullet  remains  the  same,  or 
constant,  the  velocity  of  the  bullet  remains  constant. 
Therefore,  anj  number  of  cartridges  loaded  with  dif- 
ferent lots  ol  powder  have  about  the  same  velocity 
at  the  same  temperature.  The  graduations  on  the 
sights  of  the  rifles  are  based  on  the  above  theory. 

The  bullet.— The  bullet  is  0.308  inch  in  diameter 
and  weighs  150  grains.  It  is  composed  of  a  lead  and 
tin  core,  inclosed  in  a  jacket  of  cupro-nickel. 


115 

THE  PRIMING   OF   THE   CARTRIDGE   IN   THE  RIFLE. 

When  the  cartridge  is  primed  in  the  rifle  and  com- 
bustion of  powder  takes  place  a  volume  of  gases,  at 
a  very  high  temperature,  is  given  off,  which  attains  a 
breech  pressure  of  51,000  pounds  per  square  inch. 
This  gas  acts  along  the  path  of  least  resistance  (which 
in  this  case  is  the  bullet)  and  as  the  bullet  moves 
forward  it  is  rotated  by  the  rifling  about  its  own 
axis,  and  when  the  bullet  leaves  the  barrel  it  has  a 
velocity  of  2,700  feet  per  second  and  the  bullet  rotates 
approximately  3,240  revolutions  per  second  at  the 
time  it  leaves  the  barrel.  The  rotary  motion  of  the 
bullet  about  its  own  axis  keeps  it  flying  through  space 
point  forward.  Forward  motion  and  rotation  of  the 
bullet  begin  in  breech  of  barrel  with  zero  motion  and 
rotation,  and  in  the  short  distance  from  breech  to 
muzzle  attains  the  above  velocity  and  rotation.  The 
rifling  in  the  barrel  makes  one  turn  in  every  10  inches 
to  the  right. 

PARALLELOGRAM   OF   FORCES. 

Composition  of  two  forces  not  having  the  same  line 
of  action. — If  two  forces  acting  on  a  particle  be  rep- 
resented in  direction  and  magnitude  by  the  two  adja- 
cent sides  of  a  parallelogram  then  the  diagonal  of  this 
parallelogram  passing  through  their  point  of  inter- 
section will  represent  the  magnitude  and  direction  of 
resultant  force.  In  the  above,  forces  are  considered 
as  constant. 

The  part  of  the  law  upon  which  the  above  proposi- 
tion is  based  may  be  stated  in  the  following  form : 
When  several  forces  act  simultaneously  upon  a  body, 


116 

each  force  produces  the  same  effect  which  it  would 
have  produced  if  it  had  acted  singly.  In  applying 
the  above  principles  we  may  consider  the  forces  as 
producing  motion. 

Let  us  suppose  two  forces  P  and  Q,  Fig.  1,  to  act 
simultaneously  upon  the  same  particle  ;  each  will  have 
the  same  effect  as  if  it  acted  alone  and  is  measured 
by  velocity  it  gives  in  a  certain  time  and  its  direction 
is  that  of  this  velocity  ;  therefore,  if  these  velocities 
are  represented  by  AB  and  AD,  respectively,  Fig.  1, 
then  the  same  lines  must  be  proportional  to  forces 


/ 


6 


P  and  Q.  Since  AC  represents  the  resultant  velocity 
in  direction  and  magnitude,  a  force  having  this  direc- 
tion, and  proportional  to  AC,  must  be  the  resultant 
force  equivalent  to  combined  effects  of  P  and  Q. 

EXTERIOR    BALLISTICS. 

To  apply  above  principles  to  a  bullet  flying  through 
space. — Here  we  have  three,  and  sometimes  four, 
forces  acting  on  the  bullet  at  the  same  time.  These 
forces  are  kinetic  energy,  air  resistance,  gravity,  and 
wind. 

The  kinetic  energy,  in  bullet,  is  result  of  force  of 
powder  gases  expended  on  the  bullet  at  some  previous 
time. 


117 

The  air  resistance  is  due  to  the  bullet  forcing  its 
path  through  the  air. 

Gravity  is  the  attraction  of  bullet  toward  center  of 
earth,  which  retards  the  bullet  on  ascending  portion 
of  trajectory  and  accelerates  its  fall  on  the  descend- 
ing portion  of  trajectory.  In  a  vacuum  a  body  falls 
about  16  feet  the  first  second  and  at  the  end  of  the  first 
second  has  attained  a  velocity  of  32  feet  per  second 
and  its  velocity  will  increase  at  the  rate  of  32  feet  per 
second.  So,  if  we  could  take  a  rifle  in  a  vacuum 
16  feet  above  the  horizontal  plane  and  fire  the  rifle 
in  a  level  position,  then  at  the  end  of  one  second  the 

Rifle  F/^2 


N  \ 

. 


-V 

bullet  would  strike  the  horizontal  plane  a  certain  dis- 
tance from  the  rifle,  depending  on  the  velocity  of  the 
bullet. 

In  the  above  we  have  seen  that  the  bullet  projected 
in  space  drops  a  certain  distance  in  a  given  time.  To 
shoot  the  rifle  a  long  distance,  near  a  horizontal  plane 
or  level  ground,  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle  must  be  ele- 
vated a  certain  amount  to  counteract  force  of  gravity 
and  air  resistance.  For  example :  Let  us  assume  that 
we  wish  to  shoot  1,000  yards.  For  a  range  of  1,000 
yards  the  angle  of  departure  will  be  about  48  minutes 
above  the  line  of  site  with  the  model  1903  rifle. 

If  no  other  forces  acted  on  the  bullet  but  the  pro- 
pelling force,  the  bullet  would  follow  path  AD,  Fig. 
3,  but  when  the  bullet  leaves  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle 
gravity  begins,  at  once,  to  draw  the  bullet  toward  the 


118 


earth  and  the  air  resistance  be.crins  to  retard  the  for- 
ward motion  of  the  bullet.  With  the  three  forces, 
kinetic  energy,  air  resistance,  and  gravity  acting  on 
the  bullet,  at  the  same  time,  the  bullet  follows  a  path 
called  the  trajectory,  ABC.  Fiir.  X.  We  know  that 
the  trajectory  of  a  bullet  is  a  curve,  which  proves 


that  some  of  the  forces  acting  on  the  bullet  are  con- 
stantly increasm-  or  decreasing  with  a  certain  rate 
of  change.  In  analy/in::  the  above  we  find  that 
kinetic  energy  of  the  bullet  decreases  nt  a  certain 
rate,  force  Of  gravity  increases  at  a  certain  rate  and 
air  resistance  changes  as  the  bullet  moves  forward 
more  slowly,  or  loses  velocity. 


Top  V/ew 


•  us  a<sume  that  wo  could  1:0 1  a  trajectory  of 
Jlet  without  any  side  drift  (due  to  a  rotation  of 
the  bullet)  and  no  side  wind  blowing.  Then  the  tra- 
jectory will  lie  in  a  vertical  plane,  Fiir.  4.  and  top 
view  of  the  trajectory  will  be  represented  by  u 
straight  line  /•;/),  Fig.  4. 


119 

Let  us  now  analyze  a  case  where  the  side  wind  and 
drift,  due  to  rotation  of  the  bullet,  is  considered :  The 
drift  of  a  bullet,  fired  from  the  1903  rifle,  is  to  the 
right  due  to  the  right  hand  twist  of  the  rifling.  Let 
us  also  assume  that  wind  acting  on  the  bullet  is  blow- 
ing from  left  to  right,  at  any  angle,  but  in  this  case, 
indicated  by  arrow  W,  Fig.  5,  and  that  the  rifle  is 
aimed  at  point  F,  Fig.  5,  and  fired.  We  will  assume 
that  the  bullet  struck  at  E,  Fig.  5. 


In  this  case  (Fig.  5)  the  side  view  of  trajectory 
looks  like  the  previous  case,  but  top  view  has  changed 
so  that  instead  of  DE  being  a  straight  line  it  is  now 
a  curve.  This  is  due  to  the  constant  slowing  up  of 
velocity  of  bullet  and  the  action  of  drift  and  wind, 
from  the  left  side,  on  the  bullet.  Now,  to  hit  point  F, 
Fig.  5,  we  must  point  the  bore  of  the  rifle  at  G,  to 
counteract  the  force  of  the  wind,  or  drift  of  the  bullet, 
as  the  case  may  be.  If  a  strong  right  wind  is  blowing 
it  will  act  on  the  bullet  from  the  right,  and  if  the 
drift  due  to  wind  is  more  than  drift  due  to  rotation,, 
the  bullet  will  drift  to  the  left 


120 

EFFECT    OF    HEAD    AND    KEAB    WINDS    ON    THE    FLIGHT    OF 
THE  BULLET 

With  a  head  wind  it  is  not  the  air  resistance  alone 
that  must  be  considered,  but  we  must  also  consider 
the  velocity  with  which  the  air  moves  toward  the 
bullet.  These  two  combined  will  give  us  the  force 
that  retards  the  forward  movement  of  the  bullet. 
Therefore,  if  a  strong  head  wind  is  blowing  an  in- 
crease of  angle  of  departure  or  elevation  on  rear 
sight  must  be  increased  for  a  given  range  to  overcome 
the  increased  resistance. 

When  a  rear  wind  is  blowing  the  resistance  of  the  air 
on  the  bullet  is  decreased  a  small  amount,  due  to  the 
air  moving  in  the  same  direction  the  bullet  is  moving. 
Therefore,  with  a  rear  wind  blowing  we  must  decrease 
the  angle  of  departure,  for  the  air  resistance  is  less. 
So,  in  summing  up,  we  find  that  to  shoot  a  certain 
distance  with  known  elevation  for  that  distance  we 
must  decrease  the  elevation  for  a  rear  wind  and  in- 
crease it  for  a  head  wind. 

PLOTTING   THE  TRAJECTORY   OF  A  BULLET. 

Every  rifleman  or  any  man  who  will  direct  the 
use  of  the  rifle  should  know  all  about  the  trajec- 
tory of  a  bullet  under  different  conditions,  and  should 
be  able  to  plot  the  trajectory  without  any  decided 
effort  when  ordinates  of  respective  distances  are 
given.  He  should  know  that  the  trajectory  remains 
rigid  if  angles  of  site  above  or  below  horizontal  plane 
are  small — that  is,  we  may  shoot  upward  or  down- 
ward, and  if  the  upward  or  downward  angles  are 
small  the  trajectory  will  remain  the  same.  He  should 


121 

also  know  how  to  plot  wind  deflections  if  tables  of 
wind  deflections  are  given. 

Ordinates  of  trajectory,  wind  deflection  tables, 
value  of  correction  for  temperature  and  barometer, 
penetration  of  the  bullet,  in  certain  materials  can  all 
be  found  in  the  Descriptive  Book,  United  States- 
magazine  rifle,  caliber  .30,  model  1903,  No.  1923. 

A  thorough  knowledge  of  these  principles  should  be 
obtained,  as  ability  to  direct  fire  power  and  large 
part  of  marksmanship  and  musketry  revolves  around 
the  knowledge  of  the  characteristics  of  a  bullet  in  its 
flight. 

EFFECT    OF    TEMPERATURE    AND    DENSITY    OF    AIR    ON 
VELOCITY  OF  BULLET. 

Temperature. — For  each  degree  of  temperature 
above  or  below  normal  (70°  F.)  velocity  will  vary 
1.5  feet  for  each  degree.  If  we  had  cartridges  which 
would  give  us  a  standard  velocity  of  2,700  feet  per 
second,  at  70°  F.,  and  we  fired  the  cartridges  when 
the  powder  had  a  temperature  of  90°  F.,  our  velocity 
would  increase  1.5  feet  per  second  for  each  degree 
above  70°.  In  this  case  the  difference  in  temperature 
is  20°  and  20  multiplied  by  1.5  feet  would  give  us  an 
increase  in  our  initial  velocity  of  30  feet  or  a  velocity 
of  2,730  feet  per  second. 

Density  of  air. — Another  factor  entering  in  is  the 
density  of  the  air.  The  density  varies  with  the 
barometer,  thermometer,  and  moisture  in  the  air. 
Tables  I,  II,  III  and  IV,  pages  55,  56,  and  57,  De- 
scriptive Book  U.  S.  Magazine  Rifle,  will  enable  a 
close  approximation  to  be  made  for  a  particular  con- 
dition. 


122 

In  Table  I,  will  be  found  the  value  of  dl  for  differ- 
ent values  of  temperature  and  pressures  of  atmos- 
phere. With  value  of  dl,  found  in  Table  I,  the  corre- 
sponding elevation  for  a  given  range  can  be  found  in 
Table  II,  which  is  calculated  for  different  values 
of  dl. 

With  this  elevation  given  in  Table  II  the  corre- 
sponding elevation  can  be  obtained  from  Table  IV, 
which  gives  range  and  sight  elevation  for  correspond- 
ing angles  of  departure. 

NOTE. — In  these  tables,  (dl)  represents  standard 
density  of  air  29.92  inches  and  (d)  is  equal  to  density 
of  air  at  time  of  firing. 

The  following  problem  is  given  as  an  illustration  of 
the  use  of  the  tables  referred  to  above : 

Range  1,000  yards;  barometer  reading  29  inches; 
temperature  90°  F. 

FROM  TABLE  I : 

-r= 1.096  for  90°  temperature  and  29  inches  of  barometric 

pressure. 
FROM  TABLE  II : 

When  -j=1.10,   the  angle  of  departure  equals    44.554 
minutes. 

When  —=1.05,  the  angle  of  departure  equals  46.256. 
a 

By  interpolating: 

The  difference  between  angles  46.256  and  44.554 
equals  1.702  minutes. 

The  difference  between  1.10  and  1.05=. 05. 

The  difference  between  1.10  and  1.096  (the  ratio 
found  in  this  case  to  represent  90°  temperature  and  29 
inches  barometric  pressure)  equals  .004. 


123 

Then,  by  proportion : 

1  702  VO  004 

1.702:X::O.Q5:0.004=^u"/:"-u     =0.136  minutes,  the 
u.uo 

angle  which  must  be  added  to  angle  44.554. 
44.554+0.136=44.690  minutes,  the  angle  of  departure 

when    -j-= 1.096    and    the    muzzle    velocity    is    2,700 
feet  per  second. 

TO  COBEECT   MUZZLE   VELOCITY   FOB   TEMPEKATUKE   OF 
POWDER. 

For  each  degree  of  temperature  of  the  powder  above 
70°  F.,  the  velocity  of  the  bullet  will  increase  1.5  feet 
per  degree,  or  in  this  particular  case  the  difference 
between  90°  and  70°,  which  is  20°.  Then:  20X1.5 
feet=30  feet,  the  increase  of  velocity. 

The  angle  of  departure  for  1,000  yards,  when   -j=l 

and  the  muzzle  velocity  is  2,700  feet  per  second,  is 
equal  to  48.198  minutes,  and  for  2,800  feet,  muzzle 

velocity,  under  the  above  conditions  (when  -j— 1)  the 

angle  of  departure  is  equal  to  44.552  minutes.  (See 
Table  III,  Descriptive  Book.)  The  difference  be- 
tween these  two  angles=48.198— 44.552,  or  3.646  min- 
utes. The  difference  between  2,700  and  2,800=100 
feet,  difference  in  velocity,  and  30  is  the  difference  in 
velocity  due  to  temperature. 
Then,  by  proportion: 

3.646 :  X : :  100 :  30=X  =3-6^30  =  1.093  minutes. 

We  found  that  due  to  conditions  in  atmosphere  (in 
the  above  problem)  that  the  angle  of  departure  was 
44.390  minutes,  but  due  to  temperature  of  powder  we 


124 

have  an  increase  of  30  feet  in  velocity.  Therefore, 
we  must  decrease  the  angle  of  departure  by  1.093 
minutes,  as  found  above,  or  44.690  —  1.093,  which  gives 
us  43.597  minutes,  the  angle  of  departure  for  tempera- 
ture of  the  powder  at  90°  F.,  and  barometer  reading 
29  inches  to  shoot  at  a  range  of  1,000  yards. 

TO    FIND    THE    SIGHT    SETTING    FOB    THE    ABOVE    RESULTS. 

We  find,  from  Table  IV  of  the  Descriptive  Book, 
that  43.852  minutes  equals  the  angle  of  departure  for 
950  yards  and  that  .the  angle  is  greater  than  the 
angle  found  in  the  above  example  ;  so,  by  interpolating, 
we  find  the  correct  sight  setting  for  the  above  condi- 
tions : 

Solution  : 

Angle  of  departure,  sight  set  at  950  yards=43.852 
minutes. 

Angle  of  departure,  sight  set  at  925  yards=41.786 
minutes. 

43.852—41.786=2.066,  or  difference,  in  minutes,  be- 
tween the  two  angles. 

950  —  925=25,   or   difference  in  yards  of  elevation. 

In  the  previous  example  we  found  that  the  angle  of 
departure  for  the  powder  at  90°  temperature  and 
barometer  reading  29,  for  1,000  yards  was  43.597 
minutes,  and  we  find  from  Table  IV,  Descriptive  Book, 
that  the  angle  of  departure  for  a  sight  setting  of  950 
yards  equals  43.852  minutes,  so  the  difference  be- 
tween these  two  known  angles  would  be:  43.852— 
43.597,  or  .255  minutes. 

Then  by  proportion: 


2.066  :  0.255  :  :  25  :  Z='=^=3  yards  plus. 


125 

Therefore  this  result,  3  yards,  must  be  deducted 
from  950  yards,  which  will  give  us  947  yards  sight 
elevation  for  firing  at  1,000  yards  with  temperature 
90°  and  barometer  29  inches. 

TO  FIND  THE  STRIKING  ENERGY  OF  A  BULLET. 

Every  rifleman  should  know  how  to  compute  the 
striking  energy  of  a  bullet  provided  he  knows  the 
velocity. 

The  striking  energy  of  a  bullet,  at  any  time  of  its 
flight,  is  equal  to: 

V2W 

— 2 —  =E  (energy  in  foot-pounds). 

Where — 

V2= Velocity    (squared)    at    any    time    during    its 

flight, 

W= Weight  of  the  bullet   (in  pounds), 
0r=32.16  or  acceleration  due  to  gravity, 
7,000=the  number  of  grains  (weight)  in  one  pound 

(approximately), 

and  if  we  know  the  energy  with  which  a  bullet  strikes 

at  any  given  time  and  do  not  know  the  velocity,  we 

can  solve  for  V  in  the  above  equation  and  find  the 

velocity. 
Example:  Let  E    energy  of  the  bullet  and  let  its 

force  be  known,  and  we  wish  to  find  V  (the  velocity). 

V2W= 
2<7   = 
ity  the  bullet  had  at  the  time  it  struck. 

It  is  not  intended  that  sight  corrections  will  be 
figured  out  on  the  rifle  range  by  these  problems. 


2Ea  l2Ea 

E,  then  F2=-      and  V=-J-,  or  the  veloc- 


126 

The  simple  rules  heretofore  given  in  the  chapter  on 
sight  setting  will  be  used.  These  examples  illustrate 
the  method  by  which  corrections  are  mathematically 
computed. 


CHAPTER  16. 
SAFETY  CAUTIONS. 

The  safety  cautions  are  set  out  in  full  in  the  outline 
and  will  not  be  repeated  here. 


CHAPTER  17. 
RANGE  FIRING. 

Preliminary  instruction  is  of  no  avail  unless  it  is 
used  in  range  firing.  The  greatest  care  should  be 
taken  by  the  instructor  to  see  that  all  of  the  prelimi- 
nary instruction  is  followed  when  the  recruit  first 
comes  to  the  firing  point.  At  this  time  he  is  likely  to 
forget  even  though  most  carefully  instructed.  His 
first  shot  with  the  full  load  is  an  event  and  buck 
fever  is  often  added  to  his  other  troubles.  A  slow, 
careful  start  means  final  speed  and  progress. 

After  the  ice  is  broken  and  a  correct  start  is  made, 
it  then  becomes  a  question  of  plodding,  persistent 
practice.  There  is  no  other  way  to  really  learn  the 
rifle.  All  that  has  been  said  upon  every  subject  must 
become  a  part  of  the  instruction  in  range  firing. 

(A)  The  first  firing  on  the  range  should  always  be 
slow  fire,  at  short  range,  in  the  prone  position  and 
with  the  sling.  The  "  ten  commandments  "  should  be 
used  for  every  shot. 


127 

(B)  As  soon  as  the  results  of  this  firing  show  reas- 
onably  good  holding  then   fire   for   groups   at   short 
range.     Insist  on  each  shot  being  held  the  same  and 
make  no   sight  corrections  until   after  the  group  is 
completed.     If  the  aiming  point   was   the   same  for 
each  shot  and  the  hold  good,  the  shots  will  all  go  in 
a  group.    Ten  shots  should  be  fired  in  this  way,  then 
make  a  study  of  the  group.    If  the  shots  are  in  a  small 
group  around  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye,  the  elevation 
and  the  zero  are  correct  for  that  range.    If  the  group 
is  low,  the  normal  elevation  is  higher.     If  the  group 
is  high,  the  opposite  is  true.     The  amount  of  change 
in  the  sight  for  normal  elevation  can  be  determined 
by  measuring  the  distance  in  inches  up  .or  down  from 
the  center  of  the  group  to  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye 
and  using  the  elevation  table  under  sight  setting.     If 
the  conditions  are  zero  and  the  group  is  to  the  right 
or  left  the  rifle  is  off  for  zero.    The  amount  may  be 
determined  by  measuring  from  the  center  of  the  group 
to  the  right  or  left,  as  the  case  may  be,  in  inches  to 
the  center  of  the  bull's-eye,  and  then  using  the  wind- 
age deflection  table  under  "  Sight  setting."     There  is 
nothing  more   important   in    rifle   training   than   the 
proper  determination  of  normal   elevation   and  zero 
windage.     They  can  only  be  determined  by  each  man 
for  himself  by  actual  shooting  and  good  holding.    The 
result  for  one  rifle  is  of  no  value  for  another  rifle. 
It  is  a  one-man-one-rifle  problem. 

(C)  While  the  finding  of  normal  elevations  and  zero 
windage  is  best  found  by  firing  groups ;  still  it  can  be 
well  done  by  a  good  holder  by  firing  only  a  few  shots. 
If  the  time  is  short  it  may  be  necessary  to  do  it  this 
way.      In    any    e^vent    it    should    be    carefully    done. 


128 

Thereafter  every  shot  should  be  a  check  on  the  normal 
elevations  and  the  zero.  They  are  matters  for  con- 
stant study  and  observation.  They  sometimes  change 
because  of  the  wear  of  the  rifle  and  careful  obser- 
vation will  always  detect  the  change. 

(D)  Rapid    fire    practice    should    not    begin    until 
after  the  zero  and  point  of  aim  for  the  battle  sight 
are  carefully  determined  by  slow  fire. 

(E)  Since  marksmanship  is  developed  faster  and 
better  by  longer  range  firing  it  is  important  to  prop- 
erly increase  the  range.    This  can  be  done  as  soon  as 
the  recruit  can  hit  the  target  at  the  longer  ranges  and 
correct  for  at  least  a  part  of  the  distance  of  his  hit 
from  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye.     He  is  ready  for 
1,000  yards  when  he  can  stay  on  the  target  and  get 
a  response  to  his  sight  changes.     The  value  of  each 
shot  fired  at  long  range  for  training  purposes  is  very 
much  greater  than  at  shorter  ranges.    The  holding  is 
improved  much  more  and  there  is  no  other  way  to 
learn  weather  conditions. 

(F)  Sniping  is  the  final  training  of  the  war  shot. 
It  requires  a  special  range.    The  distances  should  be 
unknown  and  indistinct  targets  should  be  used.    There 
should  also  be  moving  targets  and  in  fact  every  form 
of  target  that  simulates  battle  conditions.     Because 
of  the  inadequacy  of  ranges  and  the  difficulties  of 
operating  them  the  amount  of  practice  to  be  had  is  not 
very  great.    This  is  a  handicap  in  the  most  vital  part 
of  the  training  that  can  only  be  removed  by  the  in- 
vention of  better  ranges. 

No  matter  how  many  riflemen  or  how  many  scouts 
may  be  attached  to  an  army  there  is  always  need 
for  that  combination  scout  and  marksman,  the  sniper. 


129 

He  must  first  of  all  possess  those  strategic  talents 
which  permits  the  scout  to  go  undetected  upon  his 
hazardous  missions — even  to  within  a  stone's  throw 
of  enemy  lines.  He  must  be  expert  rifleman  enough 
to  make  every  bullet  bring  its  hit. 

The  sniper  is  in  constant  battle  even  when  all 
others  on  the  lines  are  quiet. 

The  sniper  should  dominate  no  man's  land  all  the 
time  and  keep  it  safe  for  democracy. 

He  should  dominate  the  enemy's  snipers  and  pro- 
tect freedom  of  movement  in  his  own  trenches. 

The  sniper  always  fires  from  cover. 

Concealment  is  his  first  and  his  constant  necessity. 

His  post  is  in  or  behind  his  own  lines  or  off.  from 
a  communication  trench.  Sometimes  it  is  in  front 
of  the  lines. 

Sniping  is  often  done  at  less  than  200  yards  and 
from  that  distance  up  to  800  yards  and  even  more. 

Sniping  is  a  one-shot  performance. 

Snipers  often  work  in  pairs,  one  observing,  one 
shooting. 

The  sniper  knows  his  distance. 

And  he  is  busy  during  the  attack  and  defense 
when  many  of  his  best  opportunities  appear. 

The  sniper  has  every  opportunity  to  use  all  the 
refinements  of  the  most  expert  riflemen. 

He  needs  an  accurate  rifle. 

He  needs  the  best  sight  adjustments. 

For  the  ordinary  sight  the  micrometer  with  gradu- 
ations that  move  the  hit  on  the  target  one  inch  for 
each  hundred  yards  distance  from  the  target,  both 
for  elevation  and  for  windage,  is  the  best.  It  should 
130339°— 19— -9 


130 

also  have  an  adjustment  for  zero  in  the  rear  sight.    It 
is  not  a  rapid  fire  or  battle  sight. 

But  part  of  the  snipers  must  also  have  telescope 
sights. 

The  sniper  shoots  better  with  the  telescope  sight. 

The  sniper  aims  quicker  than  the  telescope  sight 
because  he  sees  better. 

The  sniper  aims  more  accurately  with  the  telescope 
sight  because  his  target  is  more  distinct. 

The  sniper  will  hold  steadier  with  the  telescope 
sight  because  his  errors  are  magnified  and  he  will 
fight  harder  to  overcome  them. 

The  sniper  will  see  further  with  the  telescope  sight 
and  hit  better  at  longer  ranges. 

The  sniper  without  a  telescope  sight  has  no  equal 
chance  against  the  sniper  with  it. 

The  telescope  sight  will  permit  the  establishment 
of  a  second  line  of  snipers  at  greater  distance. 

This  line  will  be  more  efficient  because  it  can  be 
better  concealed. 

It  becomes  a  support  and  a  protection  for  the  snip- 
ing posts  closer  in  and  therefore  makes  all  sniping 
more  effective. 

The  telescope  sij/ht  should  have  the  same  microm- 
eter adjustment  before  described  for  the  ordinary 
sight. 

The  training  of  the  sniper  calls  for  the  highest  skill 
in  marksmanship. 

(G)  Record  firing  is  simply  a  test  of  the  training. 
So  far  as  the  individual  is  concerned  he  should  fire 
his  record  exactly  as  he  fired  his  practice.  Buck  fever 
and  all  new  stunts  must  be  avoided.  It  is  a  very  bad 
policy  to  precede  record  firing  with  cautions  for  extra 


131 

care  and  effort.  These  should  all  be  given  during 
the  training.  When  the  record  test  comes  there  is 
nothing  to  do  but  follow  the  training.  The  same  is 
true  of  firing  in  battle. 


CHAPTER  18. 
FUNCTIONING  AND  REPAIRS. 

1.  To  be  able  to  teach  the  handling  of  the  rifle  in- 
telligently,  either  to  officers  or  enlisted  men,   it   is 
necessary  to  know  thoroughly  the  functioning  of  the 
various  parts  of  the  rifle. 

2.  Placing  a  clip  of  cartridges  in  the  receiver  with 
the  clip  in  the  clip  slots,  they  are  seated  home  in  the 
magazine  by  downward  pressure  of  the  thumb,  with 
the  fingers  grasping  rifle,,  taking  care  to  keep  up  the 
pressure  in  the  proper  direction   until   all  the  car- 
tridges are  in  the  magazine.    A  release  of  the  pressure 
or  a  change  in  direction  of  the  pressure  will  result  in 
a  jam  in  most  cases. 

3.  The  bolt  is  in  the  rearmost  position  during  this 
process  and  is  held  there  by  the  bolt  stop  pin.     The 
tension  of  the  bolt  stop  spring  is  sufficient  to  hold  the 
bolt  in  this  position  when  the  rifle  is  held  in  a  vertical 
position  with  the  muzzle  down. 

4.  As  the  bolt  is  pushed  forward  the  face  of  the 
bolt  engages  the  head  of  the  topmost  cartridge  in  the 
magazine,  pushing  it  forward  ahead  of  the  bolt.     As 
the  cartridge  rises  out  of  the  magazine  the  rim  of  the 
cartridge  slides  behind  the  hook  of  the  extractor,  the 
point  of  the  bullet  being  guided  into  the  chamber  by 
the  ramp  in  the  receiver, 


132 

5.  As  the  bolt  reaches  its  forward  position  and  be- 
fore the  bolt  handle  is  turned  down  the  sear  notch  on 
the  cocking  piece  engages  the  sear  nose  on  the  sear. 
As  the  bolt  handle  is  turned  down  the  two  locking  lugs 
on  the  bolt  engage  the  locking  cams  in  the  receiver, 
giving  the  bolt  a  still  further  slight  forward  motion, 
seating  the  cartridge  home  in  the  chamber  and  com- 
pleting the  full  cock  by  further  compressing  the  main 
spring.    The  rifle  is  now  loaded  and  cocked  and  ready 
to  be  fired. 

In  squeezing  the  trigger,  first  take  command  of  the 
trigger.  In  doing  this  the  bearing  on  the  trigger  en- 
gages the  bottom  of  the  sear  nose  slot  in  the  receiver. 
As  the  heel  of  the  trigger  comes  in  contact  with  the 
bottom  of  the  sear  nose  slot  of  the  receiver  a  distinct 
stop  is  felt  in  the  movement  of  the  trigger-  with  the 
trigger  at  this  point  the  edge  of  the  sear  nose  and  the 
edge  of  the  sear  notch  are  engaged  just  ready  to  be 
released.  A  further  squeeze  on  the  trigger  so  slight 
that  the  movement  can  not  be  detected  releases  the 
sear  notch,  and  the  firing  pin  is  forced  forward  against 
the  primer  of  the  cartridge  by  the  action  of  the  main 
spring. 

6.  To  extract  the  empty  cartridge  first  raise  the  bolt 
handle.     Several  things  happen  when  this  is  done. 
The  firing  pin  is  forced  to  the  rear  by  the  action  of  the 
cam  on  the  cocking  piece  and  the  cocking  cam  in  the 
bolt;  this  action  continues  until  the  bolt  handle  is 
almost  in  its  uppermost  position.    As  the  bolt  handle 
reaches  its  uppermost  position,  the  nose  of  the  cocking 
piece  is  forced  into  the  cock  notch  on  the  bolt.    When 
the  bolt  handle  is  about  half  way  up  the  extracting 


133 

cam  on  the  bolt  engages  the  extracting  cam  in  the 
receiver  and  causes  primary  extraction. 

When  the  cartridge  is  fired  it  sticks  or  freezes  to 
the  walls  of  the  chamber  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
depending  on  several  conditions,  such  as  the  cleanli- 
ness and  smoothness  of  the  chamber  and  cartridge, 
the  temper  of  the  cartridge  brass,  and  the  temperature 
of  the  chamber  caused  by  firing  previous  shots. 

The  cocking  piece  while  being  forced  to  the  rear  by 
the  action  of  the  cocking  cams  depresses  the  sear 
nose,  thus  compressing  the  sear  spring.  This  compres- 
sion is  not  released  until  the  sear  notch  passes  over 
the  sear  nose,  at  which  point  the  bolt  handle  is  very 
nearly  in  its  uppermost  position. 

7.  To   continue   the   extraction   of   the   empty   car- 
tridge, withdraw  the  bolt  by  pulling  to  the  rear  on  the 
bolt  handle.    The  parts  are  retained  in  position  by  the 
cocking  piece  nose  remaining  in  the  cock  notch  and 
locked  by  the  sleeve  lock  engaging  its  notch  in  the 
bolt.     The  cartridge  is  withdrawn  by  means  of  the 
extractor  hook  being  engaged  in  the  undercut  of  the 
head  of  the  cartridge.    Just  before  the  bolt  is  drawn 
fully  to  the  rear  the  slotted  locking  lug  strikes  the 
heel  of  the  ejector,  throwing  its  point  suddenly  to  the 
right  in  the  lug  slot.    As  the  bolt  moves  fully  to  the 
rear  the  rear  face  of  the  cartridge   strikes  against 
the  ejector  point  and  the  cartridge  is  ejected  slightly 
upward  and  to  the  right  from  the  receiver.    The  bolt 
is  now  in  the  rearmost  position  and  the  next  cartridge 
can  be  loaded  as  previously  described. 

8.  When  the  rifle  is  loaded  it  may  be  locked  by 
means  of  the  safety  lock  on  the  rear  end  of  the  bolt. 
When  the  thumb  piece  of  the  safety  lock  is  turned  to 


134 

the  left  the  rifle  may  be  fired.  When  the  thumb  piece 
of  the  safety  lock  is  turned  to  the  vertical  position 
the  cam  engages  the  locking  groove  on  the  cocking 
piece,  forcing  it  slightly  to  the  rear,  out  of  contact 
with  the  sear,  and  locks  the  firing  pin.  When  in  this 
position  the  rifle  can  not  be  fired  for  the  reason  just 
stated,  but  the  bolt  handle  can  be  raised  and  the  bolt 
withdrawn  to  the  rear  to  permit  the  removal  of  the 
firing  pin  from  the  bolt.  When  the  thumb  piece  of  the 
safety  lock  is  turned  to  the  right  its  cam  continues 
to  engage  the  locking  groove  of  the  cocking  piece, 
keeping  the  firing  pin  locked.  In  addition  to  this,  the 
end  of  the  spindle  engages  the  safety  lock  spindle 
notch  in  the  bolt  which  prevents  the  bolt  handle  being 
raised.  The  bolt  is  now  fully  locked  and  is  unlocked 
by  turning  the  thumb  piece  to  the  left. 

9.  The  rifle  can  be  loaded  from  the  magazine  or  it 
can  be  used  as  a  single  loader.  When  the  thumb  piece 
of  the  cut-off  on  the  left  hand  side  of  the  receiver  is 
turned  down  and  the  bolt  is  withdrawn  to  the  rear, 
the  rear  end  of  the  slotted  locking  lug  stops  against 
the  projecting  end  of  the  cut-off  body.  The  bolt  in 
this  position  has  not  passed  entirely  over  the  topmost 
cartridge  in  the  magazine  or  the  follower  in  case 
the  magazine  is  empty.  Thus  with  the  cut-off  in  this 
position  the  rifle  will  be  used  as  a  single  loader. 

When  the  thumb  piece  of  the  cut-off  is  turned  up 
and  the  bolt  is  drawn  to  the  rear,  the  rear  end  of  the 
slotted  locking  lug  stops  against  the  shoulder  at  the 
rear  end  of  the  magazine  groove  on  the  cut-off.  In 
this  position  the  bolt  has  been  withdrawn  entirely 
over  the  topmost  cartridge  in  the  magazine  or  the 
follower.  Thus  with  the  cut-off  turned  up  the  rifle 


135 

will  be  used  for  magazine  fire.  When  the  thumb 
piece  of  the  cut-off  is  in  the  intermediate  position  the 
bolt  may  be  entirely  withdrawn  from  the  receiver,  the 
slotted  locking  plug  passing  by  the  dismounting  groove 
of  the  cut-off. 

10.  The  only  phase  of  the  subject  "  Repairs  "  that  will 
be  taken  up  in  this  study  sheet  is  that  of  "  fixing  "  a 
trigger. 

,A  large  number  of  the  rifles  when  issued  have  a 
trigger  squeeze  that  is  not  good  for  accurate  shooting. 

If,  after  having  taken  command  of  the  trigger,  there 
is  a  further  creep,  either  smooth  or  by  jerks,  the 
trigger  should  be  "  fixed,"  as  the  best  shooting  can  not 
be  done  with  it  in  that  condition.  To  do  this  we  stone 
down  the  heel  of  the  trigger.  Never  for  any  reason 
touch  the  sear  nose  of  the  sear  or  the  sear  notch  of 
the  cocking  piece  with  a  stone  that  will  cut.  They 
may  be  smoothed,  but  nothing  more,  and  a  mechanic 
must  do  it. 

The  heel  will  be  stoned  down  until  the  creep  that 
is  present  after  taking  command  of  the  trigger  dis- 
appears. If  a  coarse  stone  is  used  for  rapid  cutting  it 
should  be  finished  off  with  a  smooth  stone  to  get  an  ab- 
solutely smooth  squeeze.  In  case,  through  carelessness, 
too  much  has  been  stoned  off  the  heel  the  distinct  stop 
that  is  felt  at  the  end  of  the  movement,  called  "  taking 
command  of  the  trigger,"  disappears,  and  the  sear 
notch  is  released  while  taking  command.  In  that 
case  the  command  bearing  must  be  stoned  slightly 
and  the  notch  between  the  bearing  and  the  heel  stoned 
in  if  it  has  disappeared.  Careful  stoning  and  handling 
of  the  worst  of  triggers  will  make  a  good  trigger. 
During  the  operation  the  parts  should  be  assembled 


136 

and  the  trigger  squeeze  tried  several  times  to  insure 
that  the  stoning  is  proceeding  properly.  If  this  is 
done  it  will  be  very  seldom  that  it  will  be  found 
necessary  to  stone  the  command  bearing. 


CHAPTER  19. 

INTEREST  AND  ENTHUSIASM. 

This  publication  does  not  purport  to  be  a  scientific 
treatise  upon  all  of  the  details  of  rifle  training.  It 
assumes  an  elementary  knowledge  of  drills,  rifles, 
ammunition,  target  ranges,  and  score  books.  The 
things  that  everybody  will  learn  right  anyhow  are 
passed  lightly  or  left  unmentioned.  It  does  not  pre- 
sent the  intricate  problems  of  ballistics  nor  the  mathe- 
matics of  fire  control.  Bayonet  training  is  not  men- 
tioned. 

The  importance  of  these  things  is  not  denied  and 
no  attempt  is  made  to  discourage  the  best  possible 
training.  The  American  Army  is  entitled  to  the  best 
training  in  all  of  them.  It  is  getting  the  best  train- 
ing in  all  of  them. 

It  did  not  heretofore  get  the  best  training  in  the 
greatest  function  of  the  rifle,  shooting  straight. 

Too  many  have  believed,  that  shooting,  like  ballis- 
tics, can  be  taught  with  blue  prints.  Too  many  have 
believed  that  straight  individual  shooting  was  wholly 
unnecessary.  The  war  has  uprooted  these  ideas.  All 
who  went  into  the.  fight  with  them  came  out  cured. 
If  only  once  he  faced  an  enemy  and  his  life  depended 
upon  his  ability  to  hit  first,  the  solution  of  that  prob- 
lem was  worth  many  times  the  cost  of  training  to 
do  it. 


137 

Therefore,  the  first  mental  attitude  is — 
A  belief  in  straight  shooting. 
An  enthusiasm  for  straight  shooting. 
A  pride  in  straight  shooting. 

Fortunately,  this  attitude  of  mind  comes  naturally 
to  the  American. 

It  is  a  part  of  the  traditions  of  our  country. 

The  instructor  easily  imparts  it  to  the  recruit. 

But  there  are  some  faults  of  instructors  that  need 
to  be  noticed.  Often  great  riflemen  are  not  good  in- 
structors. The  great  rifleman  knows  so  well  how  to 
do  everything  that  he  has  a  strong  mental  desire  to 
take  the  rifle  from  the  recruit  and  show  him  how  to 
do  it.  This  is  a  bad  mistake.  There  is  only  one 
reason  for  taking  the  rifle  out  of  another's  hands. 
Here  it  is :  When  the  recruit  is  missing  and  charges 
the  trouble  to  the  rifle. 

In  that  case  it  is  best  for  the  instructor  to  take  the 
rifle  and  convince  him  it  is  all  right  by  shooting  it. 

After  that  is  done  the  real  work  of  instruction  is 
just  beginning.  There  is  no  further  reason  to  show 
him  how  you  do  it.  You  must  show  him  how  he  shall 
do  it. 

In  the  very  beginning  when  talking  to  a  class  it  is 
well  to  take  the  positions,  adjust  the  sling,  and  illus- 
trate all  of  the  "ten  commandments."  But  that  is 
before  they  go  to  the  firing  line. 

On  the  line  they  do  the  shooting. 

You  watch  them  and  learn  their  faults. 

You  instruct  them  how  to  correct  their  faults. 

You  look  at  the  target  after  they  have  fired. 

You  look  at  them  before  they  have  fired. 

Their  faults  may  be  little  things  but  you  must  see 
them. 


138 

You  fail  as  an  instructor  unless  you  find  the  faults 
of  the  recruit  and  explain  so  he  can  remedy  them. 

This  can  not  be  done  with  the  attitude  of  the  dis- 
ciplinarian. 
-    It  is  done  with  the  attitude  of  the  demonstrator. 

A  recruit  will  disregard  your  instructions  imme- 
diately after  they  are  given,  but  it  is  usually  unin- 
H  utional. 

Instruct  him  again. 

There  is  time  for  discipline  after  it  is  certain  he  is 
willfully  disregarding  your  instructions. 

This  is  rare,  indeed,  among  recruits. 

The  sly  old  shooter  who  has  acquired  a  bad  habit  is 
a  more  likely  offender. 

When  a  great  rifleman  also  acquires  the  instructing 
attitude  of  mind  he  becomes  the  best  possible  in- 
structor of  recruits. 

His  own  ability  inspires  confidence. 

But  he  must  instruct  and  not  shoot. 

Another  personal  subject  that  requires  the  keenest 
personal  interest  of  the  instructor  is  flinching. 

The  causes  of  flinching  are  fear  of  getting  hurt, 
improper  placing  of  the  mental  attention  at  the  instant 
of  final  trigger  squeeze,  and  stage  fright,  which  the 
hunter  calls  "  buck  fever."  All  sorts  of  cures  for 
tl inching  have  been  invented  and  many  of  them  will 
work  at  times,  but  some  should  be  prohibited  in 
orders.  A  close  analysis  of  the  causes,  a  full  explana- 
tion to  the  shooter,  and  a  distinct  drill  or  exercise  to 
meet  each  cause  are  the  only  rational  cures. 

MENTAL  DRILLS. 

Fear  of  recoil  should  be  drilled  out  of  each  man. 
How  can  you  do  it?  Have  him  take  the  incorrect 


139 

prone  position  with  his  body  "  straight  with  the 
rifle."  Then  take  hold  of  the  rifle  barrel  and  jam 
against  his  shoulder.  It  will  hurt.  Tell  him  it  is 
due  to  the  position.  Then  swing  his  body  around  45 
degrees.  Forty-five  is  not  too  much  and  it  does  not 
substantially  conflict  with  the  "  about  35  "  of  the  drill 
regulations.  Get  the  sling  properly  adjusted  and  his 
face  properly  frozen  to  the  stock.  Again  take  hold  of 
the  rifle  barrel  with  both  hands  and  try  to  jam  his 
shoulder.  It  will  not  hurt.  His  body  is  now  elastic 
and  gives  way  to  the  "  jam  "  of  the  rifle.  The  posi- 
tion saves  him  and  will  do  the  same  when  he  shoots. 
A  few  drills  of  this  kind  will  settle  the  question  in 
his  own  mind  before  he  ever  fires  a  shot.  This  re- 
moves one  cause  of  flinching. 

A  more  difficult  cause  is  improper  mental  attention 
at  the  instant  of  firing. 

Where  should  the  mind  be  at  this  critical  moment? 
How  can  you  train  it  to  stay  where  it  belongs? 

This  is  the  most  delicate  problem  in  the  whole 
psychology  of  shooting,  but  proper  understanding  and 
proper  attention  will  put  the  mind  of  even  the  dullest 
recruit  where  it  belongs — and  it  belongs  on  the  trigger 
squeeze.  It  is  all  analyzed  in  the  "  10  command- 
ments," and  each  recruit  should  be  instructed  until 
he  is  thoroughly  familiar  with  every  item. 

No  casual  instruction  will  do  this.  His  mind  must 
be  placed  on  each  of  the  commandments  distinctly  and 
separately,  but  in  sequence,  and  his  body  must  do  them 
not  once  but  many  times  until  he  is  drilled  in  all  of 
them. 

Some  of  them  are  easy  and  can  quickly  be  learned ; 
but  others — the  sight  alignment  and  trigger  squeeze, 


140 

for  example — are  delicate  and  iiot  easily  understood. 
He  should  especially  study  the  trigger  squeeze  and 
train  his  whole  mind  to  control  and  guide  it. 

Ten  things  are  a  good  many  to  remember  and  do 
all  at  once.  The  trained  rifleman  does  them  auto- 
matically and  without  thinking,  but  they  are  an  intri- 
cate problem  to  the  beginner.  Besides,  something  else 
is  going  to  happen  outside  of  these  10  things  and 
that  is  the  explosion.  That  is  strictly  the  business 
of  the  rifle  and  the  ammunition,  but  the  recruit  is 
more  likely  to  think  about  it  than  about  any  of  the 
10  things  he  must  do.  His  mind  must  be  trained  to 
attention  on  the  things  that  he  does  and  it  must  be 
trained  to  stay  away  from  the  things  the  rifle  does, 
and  especially  the  explosion.  He  should  neither  think, 
know,  nor  care  when  the  explosion  occurs.  It  takes 
an  alert  instructor  to  accomplish  this  result,  and  here 
is  a  sample  of  what  he  might  say  to  the  recruit  in 
the  order  of  the  10  commandments. 

1.  You  can  take  your  position  of  45°  without  think- 
ing of  the  explosion.     During  that  time  it  is  easy  to 
think  only  about  the  position.     The  explosion  is  too 
far  away  to  get  excited  about  it  now. 

2.  You  can  adjust  the  sling  above  the  upper  arm 
and  think  only  about  that. 

3.  See  that  the  butt  comes  hard  on  the  shoulder 
and  keep  your  mind  on  that  for  an  instant. 

4.  You  ought  to  freeze  your  face  to  the  stock  with- 
out explosion  alarm. 

5.  Catch  up  your  breathing,  exhale  part  and  hold, 
and  stop  your  mind  at  that  station.     This  drill  is  to 
teach  your  mind  to  halt  and  about  face  and  advance 
at  the  proper  time. 


141 

6.  Take  command  of  trigger,  and  now  you  are  get- 
ting closer  to  that  explosion  and  the  mind  may  want 
to  jump  over  and  think  about  the  explosion.    It  must 
not  do  this.     It  must  halt  and  see  that  the  trigger 
is  squeezed  back  to  the  first  stop  and  held  there. 

7.  As  you  align  the  sights  there  is  plenty  for  the 
mind  to  do  without  bothering  about  when  the  explo- 
sion will  occur. 

8.  You  can  easily  reach  the  last  focus  on  the  bull 
in  this  same  state  of  mind. 

9.  Now  comes  the  critical  time.     The  final  squeeze 
is  very  close  to  the  explosion.    The  mind  now  has  a 
still  stronger  tendency  to  jump  over  and  think  about 
the  explosion.     It  must  be  held  in  check.     It  must 
think  about  the  squeeze.    The  squeeze  will  not  occur 
of  its  own  accord ;  it  must  be  directed  by  the  mind. 
The  mind  must  see  that  the  squeeze  is  steady,  strong, 
and  prompt.    If  the  mind  is  attending  to  these  things, 
it  has  plenty  to  do  without  figuring  out  explosions ; 
and,  besides,  the  explosion  performance  was  all  ar- 
ranged in  the  factory  long  ago  and  needs  no  mental 
assistance. 

10.  Even  when  the  explosion  does  occur  the  mind 
immediately  has  other  business.     After  final  squeeze 
its  next  operation  is  to  call  the  shot.     The  trained 
rifleman  does  not  even  notice  there  was  an  explosion. 
He  heard  it,  but  he  did  not  register  it  in  the  record 
of  his  achievement.     It  happened,  but   it  made  no 
impression  upon  his  mind,  because  he  was  watching 
where  his  front  sight  pointed  at  the  time  he  squeezed 
the  trigger  so  he  could  call  his  shot.    If  the  sight  was 
at  6  o'clock  he  called  it  a  bull,  but  if  the  sight  moved 
he  called  it  out  in  whatever  direction  the  movement 


142 

.went.  He  had  plenty  to  do  before  the  explosion  and 
he  had  plenty  more  to  do  .  ^~~  hence  he  did  not 
notice  it. 

This  is  the  training  that  gets  control  of  the  mind 
and  removes  one  of  the  greatest  causes  of  flinching. 

The  mixing  of  dummy  cartridges  with  loads  without 
the  shooter's  knowledge  is  often  advocated  as  a  cure 
for  flinching.  This  is  not  a  cure  and  is  the  source  of 
so  much  danger  that  it  should  be  prohibited.  Dum- 
mies and  loads  should  never  be  mixed.  In  a  partic- 
ular case  a  man  will  flinch  and  deny  it.  He  is  usually 
honest  and  does  not  know  it.  He  may  blame  the  rifle. 
A  dummy  cartridge  without  his  knowledge  might 
convince  him  that  he  was  flinching,  but  it  would  not 
cure.  The  cure  must  come  after  he  is  convinced,  and, 
of  course,  it  can  not  come  before.  He  can  be  con- 
vinced by  other  methods.  The  instructor  can  fire  the 
rifle  and  show  him  it  is  all  right.  He  can  then  pre- 
tend to  load  it,  close  the  bolt,  tell  him  it  is  loaded, 
and  have  him  snap  on  an  empty  chamber.  This  will 
serve  the  same  purpose  and  avoid  the  danger  of  mix- 
ing dummies  and  loads.  After  he  is  convinced  he 
must  be  cured  by  the  mental  training  before  indicated 
and  by  giving  him  a  target  easy  to  hit. 

BUCK  FEVER. 

Everybody  has  it;  that  is,  everybody  with  any 
brains.  A  bonehead  might  be  exempt.  It  is  the 
anxiety  or  fear  of  failure  that  enters  every  appre- 
ciative mind  at  the  beginning  of  any  new  undertak- 
ing. It  is  no  discredit  to  a  new  man  to  have  a  keen 
anxiety  for  his  success  the  first  time  he  shoots  or  the 
first  time  he  enters  a  match. 


143 

The  new  man  sees  the  veteran  cool  and  uncon- 
cerned and  longs  to  emulate  him.  This  longing  itself 
makes  him  worse.  He  becomes  ashamed  of  himself 
and  tries  to  conceal  his  anxiety,  and  therein  lies  the 
greatest  vice.  The  dread  of  being  discovered  inten- 
sities buck  fever  many  times,  and  this  causes  flinching 
and  unsteadiness  of  the  worst  kind.  In  fact,  buck 
fever  of  the  highest  degree  is  a  mental  illusion  of  such 
intensity  as  to  entirely  destroy  self-control.  Can  it  be 
cured?  Yes.  Only  a  few  little  things  are  necessary 
to  dissipate  it  entirely,  but  these  things  must  be  done 
in  the  right  spirit  and  with  commanding  energy. 
What  are  they? 

First.  The  man  must  be  convinced  that  buck  fever 
is  no  disgrace. 

Second.  He  must  be  required  to  report  when  he  has 
it,  the  same  as  he  would  report  trouble  with  his  rifle 
or  ammunition. 

Third.  His  instructor  must  talk  to  him  about  it  as 
he  would  any  other  trouble. 

If  these  three  things  are  actually  done  it  is  cured. 
^.s  soon  as  a  man  has  discovered  his  buck  fever, 
reported  it,  and  talked  about  it,  he  has  mastered  it. 
As  soon  as  his  instructor  has  induced  him  to  do  these 
things  he  has  mastered  the  finest  art  in  rifle  training 
and  gained  a  psychological  control  over  his  man  which 
will  be  of  inestimable  value. 

Here  is  a  sample  course  of  study  for  a  buck  fever 
school.  Assemble  the  men  for  a  lecture  on  the  sub- 
ject. Start  out  by  telling  them  that  every  intelligent 
man  has  buck  fever  at  times  and  it  is  no  disgrace. 
Tell  them  Gen.  Bates's  story  of  his  first  deer  hunt. 
The  general  says  he  went  cut  anxious  to  make  a  good 


144 

showing  and  quite  confident  that  he  would.  When 
he  came  to  the  deer  country  he  carried  his  rifle  ready 
and  up  near  a  port  arms.  He  was  expecting  to  see 
a  deer  almost  any  minute  and  still  he  did  not  exactly 
expect  it  at  the  instant  it  did  jump  up.  There  it  stood, 
full  broadside,  and  only  60  or  70  yards  away.  It 
would  not  stand  long  but  it  was  a  beautiful  shot,  and 
the  great  achievement  of  his  first  deer  loomed  large 
in  his  mind.  He  tried  to  lower  his  rifle  to  aim  and 
the  rifle  would  not  come  down.  He  pulled  on  it, 
swung  his  weight  on  it,  and  it  did  not  come  down,  and 
the  deer  ran  awTay  and  he  never  even  fired.  A  genuine 
case  of  buck  fever.  It  happened — and  it  did  not 
happen.  The  deer  was  there  all  right,  but  the  gen- 
eral did  not-  pull  down  on  his  rifle — he  was  pushing 
up.  He  was  controlled  by  a  mental  illusion.  He 
knew  it.  was  not  ashamed  of  it,  and  cured  it  by  telling 
about  it.  It  did  not  happen  again. 

If  every  rifleman  will  look  out  for  his  own  case  of 
buck  fever,  not  be  ashamed  of  it,  report  it  to  his  in- 
structor and  talk  about  it  he  is  cured  from  that  mo- 
ment. A  mental  illusion  can  not  exist  after  it  has 
been  discovered  by  the  man  who  has  it.  He  will  drop 
the  illusion  out  of  his  mind  and  proceed  with  the 
"  ten  commandments."  But  if  he  is  ashamed,  denies 
he  has  it,  and  tries  to  conceal  it,  he  will  not  become 
a  reliable  shot  in  a  long  time. 

After  the  instructor  has  delivered  a  lecture  of  this 
type,  then  let  him  issue  an  order  for  each  man  to  look 
out  for  his  own  case  of  buck  fever  and  report  it  imme- 
diately in  the  presence  of  everybody.  He  should  not 
stop  with  an  order,  but  he  should  require  each  man  to 
promise  on  his  honor  that  he  will  obey  the  order. 


145 

Having  received  these  promises  he  can  dismiss  the 
class.  As  soon  as  he  is  alone  he  can  make  a  record 
in  his  private  notes  that  not  a  single  man  in  the 
whole  class  will  keep  his  promise.  They  do  not  intend 
to  be  dishonest.  They  intend  to  keep  their  promises. 
When  they  come  to  the  firing  line  they  may  even 
notice  their  strge  fright,  but  they  pull  out  with  only 
the  loss  of  a  few  points  on  the  score  and  then  per- 
suade themselves  that  they  did  not  have  it.  The  in- 
structor should  pick  the  oldest  and  most  reliable 
shooter  in  the  class  and  have  a  private  session  with 
him.  Tell  him  these  promises  will  not  be  kept  unless 
somebody  leads  off.  He  can  then  arrange  for  this  man 
to  fire  first  and  get  buck  fever  and  report  it  in  the 
presence  of  the  others,  and  then  all  will  follow  like  a 
flock  of  sheep.  They  will  report  the  slightest  case  and 
the  cases  will  get  slighter  after  each  report,  and  in  a 
little  while  will  entirely  disappear.  Their  training 
will  assert  itself  and  the  "  ten  commandments  "  will 
be  kept  as  a  matter  of  course.  These  lessons  are  of 
very  great  value  in  the  training  of  teams  for  matches. 
In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  note  that  no  man  ever 
becomes  so  well  trained  or  experienced  but  that  new 
and  unusual  circumstances  might  give  him  a  bad  case 
of  buck  fever.  Here  is  an  instance.  An  Olympic 
rifle  champion  of  the  world  wanted  to  coach  a  State 
team  in  the  national  matches.  He  was  also  a  good 
pistol  shot  and  was  told  that  he  could  not  coach  the 
team  unless  he  defeated  the  State  pistol  champion 
in  the  pistol  match.  The  pistol  champion  was  told 
the  same  thing,  and  then  the  contest  was  advertised 
throughout  the  camp.  Both  were  old,  seasoned 
shooters,  but  both  came  into  the  match  with  highly 
130339°— 19 10 


146 

developed  cases  of  buck  fever.  The  rifleman  won  his 
place  as  coach  by  a  scratch,  but  both  fell  down  in  their 
scores  and  were  passed  by  men  of  very  moderate 
ability.  From  this  it  is  evident  that  buck  fever  can 
be  developed  as  well  as  cured  by  a  frame-up.  The 
instructor  must  learn  the  human  mind  and  how  to 
guide  it.  His  interest  must  be  personal.  He  must 
have  this  keen  interest  in  every  person  he  instructs. 
The  psychology  of  such  an  interest  begets  an  enthu- 
siasm that  always  means  success. 


CHAPTER  20. 
CRITIQUE  AND  REVIEW. 

A  daily  critique  and  review  solves  each  man's 
trouble  for  everybody.  It  is  also  one  of  the  best 
methods  of  making  the  instruction  uniform,  and  it  is 
impressed  more  distinctly  upon  the  student's  mind. 
One  part  of  it  should  always  be  an  inspection  and 
criticism  of  score  books, 


INDEX. 


Page. 

Theory  of  individual  fire 5 

Outline    for   individual   training 11 

CHAPTER  1. 

Nomenclature,  dismounting,  and  assembling  rife 27 

CHAPTER   2. 

Care  and  cleaning  rifle  : 

Dry  with  minimum  of  rubbing 39 

Greased  bullets 39 

Inspection   after    oiling 40 

Metal  fouling  (4) ! 41 

One  dry  patch  (1) 40 

S'perm  and  cosmoline  mixed   (5),   (6),   (7) 41 

Warm  or  cold   sal   soda   or  common   soda   solu- 
tion   (2) 40 

See  also  outline  care  and  cleaning  rifle. 

CHAPTER   3. 
Position  drills : 

Individuality  encouraged 42 

Push  and  pull  drill 46 

Relative  eflaciency   (a),   (&),   (c),   (d),  (e) 42-44 

Sandbag    adjustments 45 

Sling,  adjustments 44 

CHAPTER    4. 
Manipulation  drills : 

Commands  for  the  drills 48 

In  all  positions  starting  with  the  easiest 48 

Not  an  aiming  drill 48 

Test  for  proficiency,  20  times  in  15  seconds 49 

Trigger  tied  back 48 

CHAPTER  5. 
Sight  alignment : 

Aiming  devices 49 

Line  of  white    (A) 50 

(147) 


148 

Sight  alignment — Continued.  Page. 

Open  and  peep  sights   (A) 49-50 

Other  causes  of  individuality 58 

Shooting  with  both  eyes  open 60 

Sighting   bar . 61 

Sighting    triangles 62 

CHAPTER  6. 
Trigger  squeeze : 

The  command  squeeze 69 

The  final  squeeze  neither  pull  nor  jerk 69 

The  trigger   finger 70 

Do  not  notice  explosion.  71 

CHAPTER  7. 
Ten  commandments : 

Adjust  sling  high   (2) 73 

Align  sights  (7) 74 

Call  shot  (10) 76 

Freeze   face  to   stock    (4) 73 

Final  squeeze  (9) 76 

Hard  on  shoulder   (3) 73 

Hold    breath    (5) 74 

Last  focus  on  bull  (8) 75 

Position  45  degrees   (1) 72 

Take  command  trigger 74 

CHAPTER  8. 
Aiming  drills  : 

Ten  commandments  used  as  commands 77 

Test  IX  Small-Arms  Firing  Manual 77 

See  also  ten  commandments    (7),  and  rapid-fire 
aiming  drills  (10). 

CHAPTER  9. 
Rapid  loading 77-78 

CHAPTER  10. 

Rapid-fire  aiming  drills : 

Same  as  slow  fire,  except  speed 78 

Without  dummies 78 

With   dummies 78-79 

Maximum  rate  per  minute , 79 


149 

CHAPTER  11. 

Sight  setting :  Page. 

Aiming  point  (7) 88 

Battle-sight  windage  rule    (2) 82 

Corrections  when  missing  target    (3)_ 82 

Effect  of  light,  weather,  and  glasses  (8) 89 

Head  and  rear  winds,  elevation  (5) 84 

Lateral  effect,  direction  of  wind   (4) 83 

Mirage    (6) 85 

Movement  of  sight  to  change  hit   (1) 79 

Square  rule  for  elevations   (1) 80 

Windage  rule  (1) 79 

CHAPTER  12. 

Gallery  practice : 

For  rifle  clubs 94 

The   animated    target 94 

The  reduced  load  for  military 94 

CHAPTER  13. 
Range  operation  : 

Check    and    rotation    blanks,    problems    3-6,    7, 

17,  18 100, 102,  107 

Construction  of  ranges,  solution  to  No.  1 97 

•   Distribution  of  details  for  schools,  3-11 100,  104 

Firing  details  of  troops,   3-14 98, 105 

Flexibility  of  organization,  3-20 98, 108 

For  different  course,  solution  problem  No.  2 99 

Location  of  range,  problem  No.  1 97 

Long-range  firing,  problem  Nos.  3-9 100-104 

Maximum  number  of  shots  per  target,  4-4 110 

Maximum  training  capacity  of  organization,  4-6 111 

Number  of  firing  squads,  3-8 103 

On  duty  by  half  days,  3-10 104 

Organization  for  pistol  training,  3-16 106 

Organization  long  range,  3-19 108 

Organization  for  school  of  instructors,  3 100 

Organization  of  troops  for  different  course,  4 101 

Pit  details,  4-5 105 

Preliminary  instruction  of  troops  during  school, 

3-12 105 


150 

Range  operation — Continued. 

Reasons  why  range  operation  inadequate,  A,  B,  Page. 

C,   E 95 

Target  assignments  of  schools,  3-5 102 

Target  assignment  of  troops,  3-15 106 

Training  men  in  pits,  3-21 108 

CHAPTER  14. 
Records  : 

Notes 111 

Score  books 112 

Statistics 112 

CHAPTER  15. 
Exterior  ballistics  : 

Definitions 113 

Effect  of  head  and  rear  winds  on  the  flight 120 

Effect  of  temperature  and  air  density 121 

Interior  ballistics 114 

Kinetic  energy,  air  resistance,  gravity 116-117 

Parallelogram  of  forces 115 

Plotting  the  trajectory  of  a  bullet 120 

Sight  setting,  based  on  ballistic  results 124 

Temperature  of  powder,  effect  on  velocity 123 

The  priming  of  the  cartridge  in  the  rifle 115 

CHAPTER  16. 

Safety  cautions:  Outline  for  individual  training  (16)  126 

CHAPTER  17. 
Range  firing : 

Groups  for  zero  and  normal  elevations  (B),  (C)  — 

Long-range  firing  (E) 128 

Record  firing  (G) 130* 

Slow  fire,  short  range,  prone,  first  (A) 126 

Sniping  firing   (F) 128 

When  rapid  fire  should  begin  (D) 128 

CHAPTER  18. 

Functioning  and  repairs  : 

Cocking  and  squeezing  trigger    (5) 132 

Extraction,  primary  and  complete,  ejection  (7) —  133 


151 

Functioning  and  repairs — Continued.  Page. 

Fixing   the   trigger   squeeze    (10) 135 

Loading,  single  or  from  magazine 134 

Locking  (8) 133 

Magazine,  individual  cartridges  in    (4) 131 

Necessity  of  teaching  (1) 131 

The  bolt   (3) 131 

The  clip  of  cartridges  in  loading  (2) 131 

CHAPTER  19. 

Interest  and  enthusiasm  : 

Attitude  of  mind 137 

Buck  fever  schools 142 

Mental  drills 138 

CHAPTER  20. 

Dally   critique   and   review 146 

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